The Plan of Purpose
by dkunoichi7
Summary: It's been seven years since Uchiha Sasuke left Konohagakure and nothing is the same, not even Haruno Sakura. But she and her ex-teammate have something in common: finding a purpose in their lives. Will running into each other again help them find the missing answers they need? Can they learn to let go of the past and work together? Find out in The Plan of Purpose.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Okay! For those of you who don't know (which is all of you) this is my first fanfiction ever. Please help wherever you see fit, but please don't be too harsh, either. Much love! Here's to chapter one!**

* * *

Wiping her brow, Haruno Sakura placed the palms of her hands on her bent knees, allowing herself a moment to breathe. Although Sakura was tired, she knew she shouldn't take a break...there was too much she had to get done...too much she had yet to accomplish in today's training. She had been training since before sunrise, as per usual, but her best friend, Uzumaki Naruto, had stopped her around lunch time to eat with him and spar after. As she stood straight once again, she looked around the ground where they had trained together. It was mostly torn to bits, little pieces of earth and bark scattered around the field, trees snapped in half no thanks to her super human strength.

"Sakura-chan," Naruto breathed loudly. "Can we please stop? The sun is setting and I'm starving. You know I can't fight on an empty stomach!"

Sakura giggled at Naruto's whining. She was quite hungry herself, but she couldn't stop now. No, Naruto to could stop now and start again tomorrow, but Naruto exceeded Sakura in skill. Naruto didn't have to worry about being better because he already was. She would not deny that she had grown in the past seven years immensely; she was a member of the ANBU along with Naruto and Kakashi-sensei and surpassed many of the shinobi her age. But, Sakura would not stop until she reached her goal...she would not be the weakest member of the team any longer - she'd just have to eat later.

"You can go, Naruto," Sakura stated. Naruto looked at her wide-eyed and frowned, looking down at the ground and bunching his hands into fists. "You don't need to keep doing this to yourself, you know? They-"

"They are gone, Naruto. I know they can't see me now. But I could have saved them. I could have cured them, but I was too weak and they died. I need to be stronger... I can't let anyone else die from my lack of strength," Sakura stated. Naruto, having heard this story many times before, was becoming annoyed. "Yeah?! Well, that doesn't mean you have to kill yourself training so hard!" he yelled in exasperation.

"You just don't get it, do you?" Sakura enquired. "If I become strong enough, I can bring them to justice. But I'm not strong enough - not yet. I have to work harder everyday to achieve this goal, and if I am to die trying, then so be it." There was a silence that filled the air after she spoke. She didn't notice how tense her body was until she saw blood trickling down her arms from digging her nails so far into her palms.

* * *

_The sandals on the pavement made a soft 'tap'-ing noise as the young kunoichi ran around the village. It was just before sunrise, and she wanted to find Naruto fast before they were to meet Kakashi-sensei for training. A cloud of dust and dirt formed around her as she skid to a fast hault in front of his apartment. Quietly, so she wouldn't wake any of his neighbors, she walked to the front door and rattled the doorknob - unlocked as usual. __**Stupid idiot thinks just because he's a ninja that he shouldn't lock his door anymore**__, her inner personality seethed, but all Sakura could do was smile._

_Naruto had been her hero in the last year. He had been gone for two, and though they had both grown in his absence, he gave her the strength and the motivation to become even stronger and she admired him for that more than he could ever understand. She looked up to him and loved him like she would someone in her own family. He had been there through the hard times. Times where she would do nothing but cry on his shoulder, times whenever she would take her anger out on him for not keeping his promise. 'What a fool I am to think he could control someone else's decisions,' she thought to herself. And because of that, today (marking one year since Naruto had come back to Konoha), Sakura was going to honor him and show him how appreciated he was._

_She tip-toed inside his apartment and closed the door silently, using her ninja stealth to quietly cross his apartment until she stopped in front of his room. Sakura rolled her eyes when she found Naruto sleeping. He was always such a loud sleeper - and a very...messy? one at that. As she walked to his bed, she made a mental note of the time. She had five minutes until sunrise, that was barely enough. She had to hurry._

_"NARUTO! WAKE UP!" she screamed as she jumped on his bed and started shaking him. After yelling and falling off of the bed, Naruto started charging at Sakura before he was awake enough to recognize who she was. He relaxed his body, but soon tensed it up again. "Hey! Who do you think you are barging in someone's house at hours like this anyway?!" He yelled. Sakura couldn't help but giggle, "It was hardly barging. Maybe it'll teach you to keep your door locked. Anything could happen while you're sleeping - you're too vulnerable." Naruto looked away and pouted. He hated whenever she was right. What'd she come here for anyway?! Didn't she know a ninja like him needed a full night's sleep? _

_"Come with me," Sakura stated. Confused, Naruto just sat still for a minute until Sakura pulled on his arm. "'Come with me,' I said!" Yanking him forward with one arm, she used the other to unhatch the window, and after letting go, she let Naruto follow suit jumping on the roof. "What are we doing here?" He asked, still very confused. 'First, she comes in my house and wakes me up, then she lectures me, and now what does she have planned?!' he thought to himself. "Look at the sky, Naruto," she stated flatly._

_When he looked up, he saw the most amazing array of colors. The top of the sky was still a dark blue, almost black, from light not yet having reached it. The bottom half of the sky down to the horizon was a splash of light blues, pinks, oranges, and a small circle of yellow that poked out just as the sun started to ascend over the village. Naruto's jaw dropped at the beauty. Everyone was in their slumber right now, almost awake to start the day of work, but right now was a moment of quiet. He closed his mouth and his eyes as he took in a deep breath. He now knew why this was so important for Sakura to share with him, because this was the most beautiful memory Naruto could think to possess. The sky was beautiful, and the world was quiet and at peace._

_"Today marks one year to the day since you've been back," Sakura broke through the silence. When Naruto looked at her quizzically, she held up a finger and continued. "My life before you came back was dark and empty. Sure, there were stars that shone through, but they couldn't take away the darkness...they just added beauty to it. And then you came back, and when you did, you gave light to the darkness and made the sky beautiful again and you took away the darkness, slowly but surely." Sakura turned to her tan, whisker-faced friend as a smile spread across his face. " You saved me. You are my sun, Naruto."_

* * *

"Please, Sakura-chan." Emerald eyes met crystal blue ones when Sakura was snapped out of her memory as a calloused hand was placed on her shoulder. "Just for tonight...for memory's sake." She grabbed Naruto's hand and smiled. She shouldn't have rejected his offer the first time, she knew she could never say no to him anymore - not after all he had done for her. "I would be more than glad to accompany you to dinner, Naruto."

* * *

_Sakura had just arrived back from a mission two days prior and was on her way to the hokage's office to turn in her mission report. It was the most beautiful day she had experienced in awhile, so she took this time to wander around the village in the shops and decided to stop by and visit Ino before she made her way to see the Hokage._

_As she walked out of the flower shop, she heard Yamanako Ino yell her final farewell to her for the day. She rolled her eyes as she heard the infamous nickname "Forehead" again. She hated that name, but she knew Ino meant well by it. They had been rivals growing up, but they used the nicknames as a way of making fun of it now. Now that certain people were gone, there was no need for cat-fights anymore. Sakura smiled to herself as she realized how much she had grown in the past four years since that day. 'I've matured well. I don't need him anymore,' she thought to herself. __**'That was almost believable,'**__ Inner Sakura grumbled. _

_"Sakura-chan."_

_"Mm?" She turned around to see Naruto standing in front of her, but for some reason, he wasn't looking as he usually did. He wasn't wearing the wide grin he had always worn and he didn't jump ecstatically at the sight of Sakura. She knew something was off about him, but Naruto was the kind of person who would bring it up on his own if it bothered him enough, so she decided not to say anything about whatever it may be._

_"Oi, Naruto! I was just on my way to see Tsunade-sama to give her my mission report. Perhaps you'd like to come with me?" Sakura's eyebrows came together in confusion when Naruto flinched at her words, but still, she kept quiet. "Of course I'll go with you, Sakura-chan. You know I'll always be with you, dattebayo," Naruto said in a serious tone. He walked next to Sakura and embraced her, then started on his way to the Hokage's office with his head down and his hands in his pockets. The entire walk there was silent, and Naruto wouldn't look up from the ground, even upon entering the Hokage's office. Whatever was wrong with him must have really been bugging him..._

_When Sakura walked in the room she was confused at the sight of Kakashi-sensei, but figured he was just turning in his mission report, as well. "Tsunade-shishou," Sakura greeted as she bowed. "I have my mission report for you."_

_The Godaime stood and took the report from her and Sakura noticed her shoulders were slumped and her eyes were tear-stained. Wait, now that she looked at Kakashi-sensei, he looked awfully sulky today, too._

_"What's going on Shishou?"_

_"Sakura, have a seat," Tsunade choked. Sakura sat down in a chair in front of her mentor silently, but in her head was war. Thoughts in her mind battling with each other, wondering which one might be the reason for everyone's mood. What could have happened that made everyone around her so melancholy? They had passed their A-Rank mission, shouldn't that be enough reason to be happy? They were all alive and well..._

_"I had sent Naruto to come get you, but I see that you came on your own. Tell me, Sakura, how was your mis-" _

_"Tsunade-baa-chan, with all due respect, I think you need to cut the casualities and just tell her what's going on," Naruto interrupted. Usually she would beat him over the head for the disrespectful name and interruption, but today she just closed her eyes and nodded. That worried Sakura. It told her there really was something wrong. _

_"Sakura, when you got back from your mission, your parents were still in the hospital," Tsunade spoke out. It sounded like it was meant to be a question, but Sakura knew it was a statement. "Yes, Tsunade-sama, but they've been in the hospital for months. What's..."_

_Sakura's eyes widened as reality struck her. She knew what her shishou was about to tell her, but she didn't want to believe it. "No..."_

_Naruto walked behind Sakura and put his hand on her shoulder. "Yesterday, when going to check on your parents, the nurse could find no pulse or breath." Tsunade's voice cracked and a tear streamed down her cheek. She hated this part of her job. As she looked into the eyes of her beloved apprentice, one she considered her own daughter, and told her of her deceased parents, she was reminded just how many reasons she had to loath such a postion of power._

_"But they were getting healthier. I don't understand..."_

_"Your parents were pronounced dead yesterday, Sakura. I'm sorry... I did everything I could. I tried my best. I did everything I knew how to do when a situation like this occurs, but there was nothing else I could do to bring them back."_

_Sakura's lip quivered and her whole body shook, but she wouldn't cry. She wasn't weak anymore, she was a shinobi, and real, strong ninja did not show emotions. She was sure this was no exception. "I see," was all she could croak out without crying. Hatake Kakashi stood to his feet and walked gracefully over to Sakura just as Naruto was pulling her up by her shoulders. "What a cruel world we live in. What terrible rules we teach to the people not to cry or show any emotion because that's not what a real shinobi does: shinobi must be strong," he turned to look at her, his one uncovered eye looking solemnly into her glossy jade eyes. "Anyone can hide their emotions, Sakura. It takes a strong person to show their true self to those they love." And with that last sentence, she finally let go, just like he knew she would._

_Tears streamed down her face, sobs ripped from her throat and her body shook uncontrollably as Naruto held her closer than he ever had before. His shirt was soaked from her sorrow, his eyes tear stained and hallow. 'How could I let this happen?' She thought to herself. Her knees had buckled beneath her and had it not been for Naruto's hold on her, Sakura would have doubled over in the fetal position._

_'Weak...'_

_"I... can't... believe this..." she choked between sobs._

_'You could have saved them...'_

_"Sakura-chan, I am so sorry..." was all that Naruto could say. He knew what is was like to be lonely. He lived in absolute lonliness everyday of his life, and his bubble-gum haired friend had helped him on the days when that lonlieness was the worst. But he didn't know the feeling of losing a loved one to death. Sure, there was that time when a certain team member left...but that couldn't be anything compared to this. _

_'You were too weak to save them...'_

* * *

As she walked with Naruto to Ichiraku's ramen stand, she heard him talking about the mission he would be leaving on soon and how excited he was. She was lucky, she thought, at that point to have two personalities: one listening to Naruto ramble while the other was stuck deep in thought.

Sakura stopped as she looked up at the sky. It was a dark blue, black color with whisps of the occasional cloud floating by, but all Sakura could notice was the beautiful pale yellow, full moon. A breeze swept across them, picking up sand with it in a cloud, blowing her waist-length hair all around her body, but Sakura didn't notice. She didn't notice Naruto's puzzled gaze in her direction at her sudden stop, and she didn't notice the way her hands clenched into fists.

"That day, Naruto," she began, still looking at the moon. "That day changed my life forever. I will not be the same kunoichi you used to know. I have to become stronger. I refuse to be weak anymore."

* * *

He lay awake looking up into the pitch blackness of his quaters. His life goal had already been accomplished, and yet he was feeling heavy-hearted, full of regret. Though he couldn't see anything in the dark abyss, Uchiha Sasuke held his hands just close enough to his face to see their shaking silhouettes, eyes wide in terror. There was no visable blood present, but the stench was forever engraved into his nose, into his memory. Memories of a bloody smile and broken, tremling fingers poking his forehead for the very last time. Uchiha Itachi had tried to protect him, but Sasuke had done it: he had killed his own kin, his own blood. He had ended the very life of the person that he had most looked up to all of those years as a child, he had silenced the voice of the person he loved most. He couldn't take it back, he couldn't undo the things he had done and the decisions he had made.

'_But, regardless of reason, he still killed the entire clan. That's a worthy cause of death.' _Sasuke thought to himself. But he knew that what he had done would truly follow him for the rest of his life. There would be a lifetime of sleepless nights. Constant memories of happier times and the memory of the day he killed his brother would forever haunt him; he wasn't convinced that even death would stop this deep rooted seed of regret.

'_You are an avenger.' _His mind played over and over. But that did not ease the pain, and he knew it never quite would. His mother and father, all of his aunts and uncles, never would have wanted this to happen. They always taught about forgiveness. They would never have wanted Sasuke to live the life he was now: an S-ranked criminal in the bingo book with so much blood on his hands he could almost taste it. But what had been done had been done, and he couldn't take it back. Where was he to go now? Everything he'd ever wanted in life had been finished and he felt even emptier than when he'd first started. What Sasuke needed was to start life all over, he decided.

But, what was he to do now? His only other life goal was to revive his clan, but he wasn't the affectionate type. He didn't know much about women, because he'd skipped that phase of being obsessed with them when he was too worried about avenging his clan. The only thing he knew about women, really, was how to get them pregnant. But how was he supposed to do that now? He'd never even been in a relationship with a woman, hell, he'd never even kissed a woman. The new heir of the Uchiha clan needed to be a worthy ninja in battle, and for that to happen, the mother of the child needed to be a worthy enough candidate. He wished his mother was here to help him pick the right woman for him, if there was even one out there at all. He didn't deserve love at this point, and he was almost okay with the thought of just letting the clan die out once he had taken his last breath. How would he share this with someone else? All of this hurt and agony, all of these life choices that he couldn't explain. Nobody could understand him even if they tried.

His mind flashed to a place that he'd long put to rest, and usually he would push the thought from his mind the instant it came up, but tonight he didn't stop himself.

He closed his eyes as he let his mind wander at the thought of his home back in Konohagakure. He thought of the days he had spent there with Itachi. He thought of times when they would walk around the village on sunny days when it was nice to avoid going home to their father. Thoughts of his mother's smile were ever present in his imagination. If he focused really hard, he noticed he could remeber what she smelled like, or the way her arms felt as they tightly embraced him. He could hear his father's stern but loving voice when he was training Sasuke to become a shinobi, and with all of these memories came a lump in his throat. He missed when life was easy and he wished for just one second that he could hear from his mother and father for one last time and remind them just how much he cared for them. Suddenly, a song long forgotten popped into his endlessly wandering mind. It was the song his mother had written for him and had sang to him every night when he was a child, and at the memory of this, Sasuke found enough calm in the storm to lull himself to sleep at the sound of his mother's voice.

Sasuke rubbed the sleep out of his eyes as his eternal clock awoke him. It was just before sunrise, which meant the rest of team Hebi was sleeping. If he went now they wouldn't see him leaving. This was the perfect time. He grabbed his pack and shoved a couple of items in there that he'd set aside whenever he awoke in the middle of the night. As he opened up his window, he took one last look around his room to make sure he'd grabbed everything. He was about to close the window when he paused and suddenly remembered what he had forgotton. The Uchiha dashed to a small cabinet that he kept next to his futon, taking a key out of his pocket, he hurredly unlocked the cabinet, taking all of its contents and putting them neatly into his bag. As he was locking the cabinet, he heard a noise that sounded like footsteps down the hall. As quietly as he could, so that he would not cause any suspisions to arise, the raven-haired shinobi locked the cabinet and ran with incredible speed out of the window, shutting it as silently as possible.

And then he ran. He didn't know where he was running to, or how long he was going to be running. All he knew is it would be long enough for him to come up with a plan; long enough for him to figure out a way live with a purpose. He needed a purpose.

The day had gone by a lot faster than Sasuke thought it would have, and he was surprised that team Hebi hadn't found him yet. He had been masking his chakra, but doing that took chakra, and doing so all day wore him out. The sky was black with stars gleaming across its entire expansion and crickets chirping could be heard in between Sasuke's breaths. The moon shown on his face as he hopped from tree to tree looking for a place to camp. He decided to go a little farther out than necessary just to make sure nobody would find him. Once he found a place he deemed well hidden and safe enough to sleep in, he set up camp and started a fire. Not feeling too hungry, he forced himself to eat some onigiri that he'd packed, knowing that he'd regret it in the morning if he didn't eat now. When he was done eating he lay in his sleeping bag, and though it was only early nighttime, he felt like tonight he would find sleep quicker than the night before. Although he had fallen asleep to the sound of his mother's voice, Sasuke had an awful night's sleep. Tossing and turning, waking up and falling back to sleep. One of the times he awoke, he decided to use it to his advantage and plan ahead. He couldn't believe that he didn't know exactly what he was going to do, but he needed to start somewhere, and he couldn't do that with the rest of team Hebi following him.

Sasuke sat up and reached for his pack, grabbing what he couldn't believe he'd almost forgotten back at his quarters: his headband from the Village Hidden in the Leaves. The Uchiha heir sat calmly for awhile, thumbing the scratch through the leaf symbol on the forehead protector. He chuckled to himself at the memory of Naruto scratching through it, not because it was particularly funny, but because people would always think he'd done it when he left Konoha. Had Naruto seen this coming all along? Should he have stayed and listened to his friends? Did he let hate get too far into his heart? Sasuke gripped his hand around the forehead protect and slammed his eyes shut. He shouldn't be thinking about these things. He would never let himself think that the answer to any of those pathetic questions was 'yes.' He couldn't make time for people anymore, at least not enough time to make bonds with them again. This was his time, now. Orochimaru and Itachi were dead; he'd done everything he came here for. This chapter was over and it was time to cut all ties, yet again.

* * *

**A/N: So that's it for the first chapter. Thank you soooo much for reading. Please review! It would mean everything to me! I will have chapter two up very soon!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: For those of you reading, I've reposted the story and added a new chapter. I had to repost due to editing issues but I think I've figured them out. Anyway, chapter two!**

* * *

Sakura's emerald eyes fluttered opened at the sound of rain tapping at her window. As her eyes wandered the room she noticed it was still night time and that she should probably go back to sleep. She shut her eyes and tried to let the rain calm her back into a sleep, but it was doing her no justice, because although her body was tired, her mind was wide awake and very active. Ever since her talk with Naruto, Sakura had been thinking a lot about her life, about her parents. Tonight the rain reminded her of whenever she was little. She would get so scared of the rain and she would run to her parents. "Otou-san, Okaa-san," she would say. "Save me from the rain." She crushed her eyes tighter to stop the tears from flowing.

How she wished her mother and father were still here to save her from the rain. The rainy days of life whenever she had nobody to wrap their arms around her and tell her it was okay. She missed the way her mother would always tell her things were going to be alright, and she replayed it over and over in her head. But she knew this pain would never heal, it would never cease to exist. How could the only two people who truly loved her besides her dear kyuubi friend be gone? Just like that.

She sat up and grabbed a picture frame with an old photograph of team seven inside. It seemed like everyone she'd ever loved had left her. Naruto came back, but she'd never truly loved Naruto until his absence. '_Maybe that was a good thing. Maybe that's what kept him safe_,' she thought to herself. She ran a thumb over her raven haired ex-teammate's face as tears began to well up in her eyes again, but this time, she let them fall. '_You left me, too. Only, that was by choice.'_ Tears began to drop from her glossy eyes and onto the old photo as she cried for the first time in years. Why couldn't she stop herself? Shinobi weren't supposed to cry... Wasn't she stronger than this? She threw the picture at the wall as she screamed in frustration. It was too late once she had realized what she had done, as there was shattered glass all around her room from the broken frame.

"Damn it!" she cried. "Why do I break everything I come in contact with?!"

She felt so empty, but so full of emotions all at the same time. Her team had been broken apart, her parents had died, her life had crumpled to pieces. She became a ninja so that she could save her civilian parents, but she failed...she couldn't protect them and they were gone. What was she going to do now? Other than being a medic and going on assassin missions as an ANBU, what purpose did her life hold anymore? She was only going through the motions at this point, something she had never wanted to do. Life was supposed to mean more than this. Sakura groaned in exasperation as the tears began to flow from her eyes and she couldn't stop them. Was there any reason to be alive at this point? Who needed her? Was there a purpose in this life? And just like that, the idea hit her.

'_I refuse to hurt those I love any longer,_' she settled in her mind. And with that, she set out for the hokage's office.

* * *

"Haruno Sakura, it's a bit late for you to be out right now," Tsunade greeted, eyes still locked on all of her paper work. "Have a seat."

"I'm afraid I don't have time for that, Hokage-sama."

"Mm?" Confused, the Godaime looked up from her paper and was shocked to see Sakura with her pack. "Sakura, I have not assigned you to a mission. What is the meaning of this? Go back home and get some rest, you have a long shift at the hospital in a couple of hours."

"Tsunade-sama, I would like to request a formal waver of absence from Konohagakure," Sakura stated flatly.

"Sakura... Why?"

Sakura shut her eyes and inhaled deeply. She knew it wouldn't be easy, but she had never realized it would be this hard. "I have things I need to work out with myself, Lady Tsunade. I don't expect you to understand them. I want to go and train on my own and find my strengths and my weaknesses. Just know that I love my village, and I would rather not be a traitor, but if I have to leave without your permission, I will."

Tsunade rested her face in her interlocked fingers as she sighed. "I've seen this coming for awhile, I just figured you'd learned to live with it by now," she stated solemnly. She put a finger up to hush her apprentice as she opened her mouth to interject. "I will grant you this absence, but only on one condition: you let me make this a mission so the counsil doesn't get suspicious. I can't have them putting my beloved apprentice in the bingo book, now can I?"

Sakura felt a tug at her heart at Tsunade's words, but all she did was nod her head. She wished so badly that she didn't have to do this, but she also knew deep in her heart that this was the only thing she had left to do. She needed to figure life out for herself, she couldn't just keep going through the motions.

"If anyone is to ask of your mission, you do not reveal its information, although you know the rules of a shinobi already so you knew that. But that means you tell nobody, Sakura... Not even Naruto," Tsunade said firmly. "If you want this to be successful, you'll have to follow all of my rules. Also, at any point in time I can send a summon to ask for assistance if need be, and you will comply, yes?"

Sakura nodded. "I promise to keep training and to come back stronger than I was before," she said wistfully as she bowed and turned to walk out of the door.

"Oh, and Sakura?" Tsunade inquired.

"Yes, Tsunade-shishou?" Sakura as quizzically. As she turned and looked at her teacher, Tsunade could see the sorrow in her eyes.

"We will all miss you. Please be safe out there."

* * *

Naruto yawned and squinted his eyes as the sunlight filled his room. '_Wait... Sunlight? SHIT! I'M LATE!_'

Running around his room and getting all of his clothes on he came to the conclusion that he'd have to beat Sakura over the head for not coming to wake him up this morning like she usually did. As he went to brush his teeth he stopped to notice his window was open. Funny...he didn't remember opening his window last night. He closed the window and carried on to the bathroom anyway, knowing Kakashi would be there before him if he didn't hurry.

He left the bathroom and went to the front of his apartment to get his shoes when he found a note in front of the door.

'_Sakura..._' He thought to himself as he snatched the note up. This explained the window.

_Dear Naruto,_

_I have been assigned a mission as of late last night (when you read this it will be the next day). I don't know how hard this mission will be or how long it will take, but I will come back for you. Please don't give Tsunade-sama and Kakashi-sensei too much trouble. You can feel free to write me via summon whenever you wish, but I cannot tell you anything about this mission as of request of the Hokage. _

_Please promise me you will take care of yourself, and I will promise to you that I will come back stronger than I've ever been. I will miss you dearly, Naruto._

_Sincerely,_

_Haruno Sakura_

Naruto's eyebrows came together in confusion as he walked out of his apartment, taking the note with him, subconsiously walking slower than his normal pace while analyzing the note in his mind.

If she left it in the middle of the night, that meant it would have to have been while he was sleeping and she didn't want to wake him. What mission could be that important? And she wasn't allowed to talk about it, either. She always told at least him about her missions.

The kyuubi boy's brows furrowed once more as he shoved the letter in his pocket. Sakura had asked him not to be troublesome, but he felt like she was leaving something out, and he would find out one way or the other.

* * *

The air was cold and the sky was dark. Sasuke sighed as he walked into the nearest inn in sight. It was very nice on the outside, not that it mattered at all to him, but very small - just what he needed. Closing the door behind him, Sasuke walked into the building and laid down enough money for a one room for one night and no more.

"Are you sure you wouldn't like to stay any longer than that?" The blonde woman on the other side of the counter asked him. "I can make it worth your while," she said flirtatiously as she winked at him.

Sasuke didn't even share a glance with her as he took the keys to his room, ignoring the fit she was throwing as he walked away.

"Sasuke-kun..."

Sasuke stopped.

* * *

Sakura was drenched in sweat and exhausted from having run without rest since she left the village last night. Having finally made it out of the woods and into a little town, she decided it would be a good idea to disguise herself and stash her forehead protector somewhere safe so she wouldn't be recognized. Quikly, she threw the hood of her cloak on after tying her hair up so that no one would recognize her obvious long pink locks.

Walking to a food stand, she purchased enough food for a meal for two, being enough for tonight and tomorrow; she didn't want to stay any longer than she needed to. She was on her way to a training spot she knew nobody could find her, and if she slept all night tonight and left late tomorrow, she would be able to make it in about three days travel.

Drops starting to fall from the sky, but being a ninja, Sakura had been through worse and wasn't too worried about it. What was a little rain as long as she didn't stay out too long?

"Excuse me, Miss, but you might want to head home soon. There's supposed to be an awful storm tonight and I'd hate for your beautiful self to be caught in it," the stand owner said with a smile. Sakura looked up to the sky, noticing its dark appearance that, had she not been focused on other things, she would have noticed long ago.

Sakura gave the stand owner some money for her food and hurried along. She had much more to do, but it would have to wait; she couldn't afford to get sick. With that in mind, Sakura hurried to find an inn as quickly as possible.

* * *

"I see you found me, Karin," The Uchiha heir stated dryly. He wasn't pleased. Sure, Sasuke had seen this coming, but he definitely hadn't been looking forward to it.

"Of course I found you, Sasuke-kun! You had me worried! I-"

"You can leave now."

"Sasuke-kun..." Karin gasped. "You're not going to come back with us?" Suddenly Juugo and Suigetsu ran up behin Karin. "There you are, Sasuke. I tell ya, you don't make it easy to find you, that's for sure," Suigetsu said before sucking up some water from a canister.

"I do not wish to be accompanied any longer," Sasuke said with an air of annoyance.

Karin went to throw herself on Sasuke, but he held out his hand. "Sasuke-ku-"

"I won't repeat myself. Leave." And with that, he walked his room and shut the door, leaving three now ex-teammates standing speechless behind him.

* * *

Sakura had just eaten and stored left-over food for the next day when she hopped in the hot shower. She let herself relish the feeling of the hot water on her skin, soaking her hair, cleansing her body. It was silly for her to be this happy about a shower, she kept telling herself, but she really didn't mind. '_It's the simple things in life, right?_' she thought with a smile. She gave herself this time to relax, knowing that once she stepped out her life would go back to being a nightmare.

She reluctantly turned the water off once it got cold and made her way to sleep on the futon after changing and brushing her teeth and hair. She pulled the covers over her head and closed her eyes, and luckily for her, she found sleep fast for the first time in months.

* * *

_The world around her was dark, except the ground around her was white. Everything else was black, pitch black. Total and utter darkness. She was the only light source to be found, yet in the darkness, her eyes started to adjust and she could see quite clearly._

_Sakura had realized she was in an old house. It was very cozy feeling, the type of house that the instant you walked in it felt like home. It smelled like miso soup, her favorite meal growing up. Sakura closed her eyes and smiled as she inhaled through her nostrils just to make the smell more evident to herself._

"_Otou-san! Okaa-san! I'm home!" Sakura's eyes shot open, wide in terror._

_The pitch blackness wore off and Sakura saw herself as a child sitting in a chair at the kitchen table while her mother made her some miso soup. She remembered this day specifically, it was her very first day at the ninja academy when she was eight years old, and she had just gotten home and her father came and sat at the table in the chair across from her, just like she remembered he had. A tear welled up in Sakura's eye at the sight of her family all together._

"_How was your first day at school, Sakura?" her father had asked, enthusiastically._

"_It was fine. There was this really annoying kid, Naruto. But he doesn't have parents so he doesn't know how to act. And..." Eight year old Sakura blushed and hid her face._

"_Sakura. What is it?" Her mother smiled as she set the soup in front of her daughter and joined her family at the table. Sakura smiled as she looked down upon her parents, she hadn't noticed it before, but the way they looked at each other made her believe that love still existed...for others, at least._

"_Okaa-san, today, there was this boy in class and he was really cute. Uchiha Sasuke," eight year old Sakura started. "I know I'm not the prettiest, but if I try really hard, maybe I can be strong enough for him."_

_Suddenly, the scene wore off and everything became pitch black again, but this time, Sakura could not see anything. Her eyes never adjusted, either. But she could smell..what was that? The stench of blood? _

_'No... No...'_

_Suddenly her eyes adjusted and before she could realize what had happened, she screamed._

"_Naruto! Naruto, wake up!" she screamed._

_Before her was Naruto's body in a bloody heep, so mutilated that she could barely even recognize who he was. She ran over to his body and knelt before him, using chakra flow through her hands to try and heal him._

"_Damn it, Naruto! Wake up!" She cried. In an instant, light shed down on her and Naruto as he ascended into the sky. She had no idea what to do. The blood still present on her hands, she tried to wipe them off, to clean them, but the blood stuck, it never went away. "GET OFF! GET OFF OF ME!" She screamed. But nothing helped, she was trapped._

* * *

**A/N: Okay! That's it for chapter two so far. Thank you for reading and please, review and let me know what you think!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Here's chapter three! Sorry for the wait. Enjoy!**

* * *

"What the hell is going on here?!" Naruto slammed the letter on a very unsatisfied Lady Tsunade's desk. "What is the meaning of this?"

"NARUTO! CALM DOWN AND LET ME READ THE DAMN LETTER," Tsunade screamed. Geez, this brat could be a handful sometimes. Didn't he know to mind his manners by now?

Tsunade picked up the crumpled letter and instantly recognized the handwriting. _'Very clever move, Sakura. You can't tell him, but I can.' _She smirked to herself and shook her head. "It's pretty self-explanatory, Naruto. She's on a mission."

"You've got to be kidding me. Sakura always tells me what it is and she won't now. What's going on? What are you trying to hide from me?!" At this point, Naruto didn't care about manners anymore. He was livid. His friend was gone, his best friend. She always told him everything, but she wouldn't now, and she always kept things from him whenever she was up to something she thought he would object to. He couldn't shake the feeling she was up to no good.

"Have a seat, Naruto." The Godaime said as she sat up straight and folded her hands under her chin. She needed to calm Naruto down so he wouldn't interrupt Sakura, but that meant lying to him. She needed to think of something fast.

Naruto stopped pacing the room and sat in one of the chairs in front of the Hokage's desk. Tsunade felt so bad about this all and wished she could tell him. She'd never seen him so worried before and it hurt her to keep this from him and it hurt even worse that she had to lie. Did she really have to? She tried to list the pros and cons in her head.

If she kept it a secret, Naruto would probably figure it out and continue to hound her everyday about it. But, it would leave Sakura in peace and she would be able to find herself and maybe come back faster.

If she told him, he would try to go and find her, and he wouldn't leave her alone about it. Tsunade could find nothing good about this plan. She hated to do this, but she knew she needed to. She couldn't keep this from him.

"Naruto. Your teammate, Haruno Sakura, has been granted a formal waver of absence from Konohagakure."

"What?! What the hell is going on here?! You can't just-!"

"Enough, Naruto! I am not finished. Unless you would like to stay home from your mission and be stripped of your title as an ANBU black op, I suggest you keep your mouth shut until I'm finished!" Tsunade said firmly. Naruto closed his eyes and mouth and took a deep breath as he nodded, waiting for Lady Tsunade to continue.

"It is disguised as a mission so the council doesn't put her in the bingo book and scrap her Konoha ninja title, and quite frankly her title as a person from this village altogether. It is very important that you do not tell anyone. In the situation where people ask of her whereabouts, you know nothing about them nor her "mission." If I am to find out that you have told anyone, you will be stripped of all ninja titles and achievements and required to start from scratch. That goes for if you try to go out and find her, as well. Do I make myself clear?" The Godaime said. As she watched Naruto hang his head low, she barely heard him whisper, "Hai," as though it took every ounce of energy he had.

"Now that the professional part is out of the way, do you have any questions?" Tsunade asked quietly. Looking at Naruto's hurt demeanor was making her regret her choice of letting Sakura leave, but there was nothing she could do about it now. And, at the end of the day, Sakura would have left on her own terms had permission not been granted.

"Why did she go?" Tsunade swore she heard from Naruto.

"Sakura said she needed time to figure things out about herself...some time to work things out and train on her own. I think time away from everyone and everything in the village is what she needs to clear her mind. You and I both know she hasn't been herself these past couple of years. Well, whoever she is anymore, anyway. I think that's what she's trying to find out now. She promised she'd be back, though, and I have yet to see her break a promise," Tsunade smiled sympathetically. At this point, she wasn't sure whether she was talking to herself or Naruto. All she knew is she wanted the happy, determined Sakura back and she wanted her to come home safe.

* * *

Sakura jolted awake, out of breath. Quickly, she jumped out of bed and ran into the bathroom to look in the mirror. She sighed as she saw the the wetness on her was not blood, but sweat. She looked down at her shaking hands, palm up. _'I wonder what that could've meant...'_ Sakura thought to herself. _**'It's just a dream. Don't be so dramatic, we have them all the time.'**_ Inner Sakura said as she rolled her eyes. Sighing, she turned on the shower and cleaned herself off, ridding her body of the sticky substance that clung to her as a reminder.

This was going to be a long trip if she kept having dreams like this...

After she had gotten ready for the day, Sakura decided that although she was ahead of time, she might as well leave to find her training spot. Early was better than late. She made sure to check her pack for all the things she might need along the way, even bringing some that she probably wouldn't, but just in case certain situations occurred, she wanted to be prepared. She took her forehead protector and shoved it in her bag, staring at it for a moment before forcing herself to close her pack and leave.

She walked away from the inn after paying and set off toward Kumogakure, the training grounds she was looking for were about a mile outside of the village gates. Sakura remembered once on a simple mission, she and Hyuga Hinata had come to Kumo to purchase a medication made specially by one of Kumo's top physicians, and they had passed the training grounds just outside of the village. She had asked the doctor about it, but it had been long abandoned according to him, so he said it was safe to use whenever they wished. Sakura smiled to herself as she remembered sparring with Hinata on the way back from getting the medicine.

Sakura hadn't noticed how long she had been running until the sun had started to set and the temperature had begun to drop. Not wanting to waste too much money, she decided it would be in her best interest to set up camp and make a fire. Luckily, she had made extra food the night before, so she didn't have to worry about waiting on it to cook. She let her food heat over the fire as she set up her tent and sleeping bag, making sure it was close to the warmth the fire brought her.

Her appetite wasn't what it usually was, but she figured that was because of her mood. She missed Naruto dearly. She wondered if Tsunade had broken down and told him yet or if he was still wondering where she was. Either way, she missed her friends.

She put out the fire after she finished her food, going to lay in her tent. As she laid there, Sakura looked up at the make-shift ceiling, opening herself up to all the thoughts that had been consuming her mind since that talk with Naruto. If she was being completely honest with herself, these thoughts had been around a lot longer than she led herself and everyone else onto believe. Naruto just finally triggered them and made them unavoidable.

_'I will not let these thoughts control the rest of my life.'_ Sakura clenched her hands into fists and squeezed her eyes shut. _'I refuse to be the weakest anymore. I will become stronger, I will become a ninja worthy of honor. Only then will I return home.'_

* * *

Sasuke had traveled all day and was exhausted. He sighed as he threw away his food and turned on the shower of the new inn he had just checked into about two hours ago. He let himself soak a minute in the shower, but only just long enough to get clean. He was too emotionally and physically exhausted to really enjoy the little things, like showers, that he used to.

After getting out of the shower and into the bed the inn offered, Sasuke lay there awake thinking. He had come up with a plan of action while running that day, it wasn't finished, but a start was better than nothing.

He would train. Sasuke would find somewhere to train that was secluded and didn't mean many travelers or ninja who came through that would see him. He needed time on his own to think out the rest of his plan, but for now, he was going to be completely and utterly alone. Not that it sounded good to him at all, because if Sasuke were being honest, he hated being alone. But he liked it much better than the company that he had found himself with in the past several years.

In Konoha, he had never minded being around his teammates. Even as annoying as they were, he had really started to consider them friends, and Kakashi...he had always looked up to Kakashi. But there was a reason he broke all the bonds he had, and that was old news anyway. Naruto had become a stronger ninja, but Sakura and Kakashi would always be the same, and he was still sure that even Naruto couldn't beat him in a battle. Sasuke chuckled at the thought. That was exactly why he'd left Konoha to begin with. Frienship meant nothing if you weren't growing as a ninja. Even as good as Kakashi was, he still couldn't beat Sasuke. Even Naruto couldn't... Because they were too worried about loyalty to friends and having friendships. Look at how far Sasuke had come whenever he risked that. He couldn't have kept friends and still become this strong, or so he thought.

But that was enough about those people for him. As he rolled over and closed his eyes, he found rest quite easily.

* * *

_***^*^*Two Days Later*^*^***_

Sakura sighed as she walked to her destination. It had been four days since she'd left Konoha and she was finally almost where she needed to be. She walked through a mile of trees that wrapped around the grounds on each side, hiding it from mostly everyone who traveled. The doctor in Kumo had told her and Hinata this had been on purpose, as the person had been very sick who had lived there and wanted to live their last days in peace.

Sakura froze as she felt a strong chakra in her presence. _'Great. This is definitely a ninja. I suppose I should've guessed there would have been ninja around here,'_ she thought to herself.

* * *

Sasuke slowed his pace from a steady run to a walk as the clearing of the training grounds came into view. It was nice and secluded, just like he wanted. There were tall, skinny trees that surrounded the grounds a mile out all ways around. Once he got past the trees, he saw that there was an old wooden house, kind of broken and dingy, but it wasn't anything he didn't know how to fix up. And in front of this house was a huge clearing, like a front yard of sorts. This was exactly what he needed.

Sasuke walked into the house and put down his pack at the front door. He walked around to see exactly what he'd be having to fix. There wasn't much he saw except a few pieces of floorboard and a couple of broken windows, which wasn't that bad considering he didn't have any missions coming up that he needed to hurry and train for.

Sasuke froze as he heard movement outside. _'Someone is here.'_ The Uchiha used his speed to run into the crevice of the wall next to the front window so he could hide until the time to act. His eyes widened as he saw a pair of boots jump down from a tree nearby, and he smirked to himself. This was going to be fun.

Watching the ninja wander aimlessly around the clearing, Sasuke in an instant was in front of them with his sword to their back.

"I know you know that's a clone, your scare tactics won't work on me, Uchiha," he heard from a nearby tree. He turned his vision toward the sound and saw a grown-up Haruno Sakura standing upside down from one of the trees many branches, arms folded at her chest.

"Why are you here?" He asked in annoyance.

"I could ask you the same question," she said, straight-faced.

"That's none of your concern. If you're here to take me back to Konoha, I'm not going."

Sasuke cocked one of his eyebrows up in annoyance as Sakura burst into laughter. He hadn't said anything funny. She was already annoying him more than he would like for her to. And he knew exactly how this was going to go, she would say something like "_Then I'm taking you to Konoha by force," _and he would have to kill her to get her to leave him alone. The last thing he wanted to do was add more to his already guilty conscience.

"I'm not going to fight you," he warned.

"Please, Sasuke. I gave up on that a long time ago. Nice try, though. Believe it or not, meeting you here is merely coincidence," she said as she flipped from the tree and onto her feet, striding over to Sasuke. If it wasn't for his amazing self control, Sasuke would have had a completely dumfounded expression. _'Then what is she here for?'_ He studied her as she slowly walked over toward him. Sakura was not a tall person, in fact, she was rather short. Her height came to about 5'3", and her body was slender, but curvacious. She had definitely grown into a woman in the years since he'd seen her. Her hair was all the way down her back and down to her hips, and her big jade eyes complimented her light pink hair.

Sakura stopped close enough to Sasuke that she could still see his face without standing on her tip-toes. Sasuke was most definitely taller now, she'd say about 6'5" and his hair was longer than she had remembered it. He was of course very lean and muscular, and much more handsome and intimidating than she'd ever imagined he'd be, but she would never admit that.

Poking a finger to his chest, Sakura looked up into the Uchiha heir's eyes as she narrowed her own. "You don't scare me, Uchiha. I'm not the Haruno Sakura you knew back then." And just like that, she removed herself from him and walked a couple of feet away, sitting herself on the ground with her legs crossed so she could meditate. _**'Uchiha Sasuke is RIGHT THERE and you're coming over here to meditate?! At a time like this?! What are you doing?!'**_ Inner Sakura was jumping around screaming like a small child, and Sakura had to meditate to put her mind to rest. She didn't want to think about how shocked and, though she'd never admit it, slightly excited she was to see him again. It'd been years, but Sasuke would never want to just catch up with her and be friends, and she didn't know if she'd be willing to do the same, either. He was a trader to her village and she needed to continue to see him as just that and nothing more.

Sakura opened her eyes to see a very annoyed Sasuke staring down at her.

"What are you doing? Are you seriously going to stay here?"

Sakura closed her eyes again in an attempt to get back to meditating...or at least to look like it. "Yes, I am staying, that's why I traveled here. You're interrupting my meditation," she said with no mood apparent on her face. She couldn't show Sasuke what she was feeling, that was what weak ninja did, and she was not one of those anymore.

Before she knew it, Sasuke had Sakura by the throat slammed against the side of the house. With his sharingan activated, he looked angrily into the eyes of Sakura. "You are really starting to piss me off. Why shouldn't I just kill you right here?" He seethed from ground teeth.

Sakura stared back at Sasuke blankly while Inner Sakura's jaw had dropped to the ground. _**'Your smart mouth is going to get us killed!' **_"You could kill me here, but that would only add even more blood on your hands. Another death Uchiha Sasuke is responsible for." The words came out of her mouth in slow motion for Sasuke. _"...even more blood on your hands. Another death Uchiha Sasuke is responsible for."_ Sasuke's expression grew darker as he stared at Sakura for a long time, finally releasing her but not yet walking away. His eyes burned with more hatred than she could remember ever seeing in them.

"Stay out of my way," Sasuke growled. He was gone before Sakura could blink. Sakura stretched her charka out, searching to see if he was nearby, and when she couldn't feel him, slowly fell to the ground with her back still against the house, eyes wide in shock.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry about the wait. The holidays rolled around and I had a lot of things come up and then I got the flu. :( But anyway! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and again I'm very sorry about the wait. Please review! It really would encourage me to update sooner if I knew people liked it. Thank you so much! I'll try to update soon!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I know I just updated yesterday, but I got suddenly just got to writing and couldn't stop. I know this chapter is a little shorter than the other ones, but I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Sakura ran her hands through her hair as her body became weak and she began to shake. She had only ever seen that look in his eyes one time, and that was whenever Itachi had come to Konoha. Sakura furrowed her eyebrows as she thought. Even though the hate was so apparent in his face, it didn't seem to be aimed at her, and it didn't show up until she mentioned more blood on his hands.

_'Sasuke...'_

She sighed as she closed her eyes and remembered the time in the hospital that she hugged him, Sasuke had never been one for close proximity, but that day he hadn't stopped her from the tight embrace. She believed that was only because he'd already known he was going to leave. Sakura had never imagined leaving the village would have entailed this to happen, but Sasuke was a rogue ninja, so she supposed she should have known he could have been at least seen while she was out.

Sakura exhaled and opened up her eyes, standing up and starting to stretch. She had a goal, and she wouldn't let anyone stand in the way of that. Not even Sasuke...

* * *

Sasuke stood leaning on a tree, breathing slowly to calm his raging heart rate. Sakura's words had really stuck with him, but something had told him that it wasn't just her words that impacted him, but who they came from.

The old Sakura would never have told him a thing like that. She would have cowered down to him, not poked him on the chest and looked directly into his eyes as he threatened to take her life. She would have fawned all over him, and instead she sat down, ignoring him, so she could meditate. Who was this woman?

"_...Another death Uchiha Sasuke is responsible for..."_

Sasuke turned around and punched the tree in anger as the words rang over and over in his mind. He knew he was a fuck up, Kami, how he knew. All she did was remind him of that. What was she doing here, anyway? Sasuke jumped up into the tree and ran from branch to branch with clenched fists back to the clearing, he was going to find out just what her intentions were.

* * *

Sakura pulled her hair up into a bun and rubbed away the hairs sticking to her sweaty face. It had been hours since Sasuke left, and she was sure that meant he wouldn't come back. She was a little disappointed, but she hadn't really expected anything else. It was just a very weird way to meet back up with someone who used to mean so much to her. _**'Used to?'**_ Inner Sakura made a very disapproving face. '_Shut up... He's old news.'_

Although she was tired, there was one last thing Sakura wanted to work on before she would let herself rest for the night. She knew this wouldn't take long, but she was willing to spend as much time as she needed to on it. She was happy she'd spent the whole day practicing taijutsu because now she was free to use up her chakra as much as she needed.

Sasuke watched Sakura from up in the treetops, masking his chakra. He'd been doing this for quite sometime but was beginning to get bored as he saw that she had only spent the day training, although he had to admit that she had great stamina now. But it was hard for him to be truly impressed with her, in his eyes, she always had been and always would be the weakest shinobi of Konoha. He watched as she sat in the grass for what seemed like forever, and almost jumped out of the tree and walked away from the clearing, when suddenly he felt an enormous amount of chakra that stopped him in his tracks. His entire body froze and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. Slowly, he turned around. Sasuke was shocked as Sakura opened her eyes. It was like nothing he'd ever seen before...

Sakura sat down cross-legged and closed her eyes to concentrate. What she wanted to do wasn't hard but it required a lot of focus and control, but she had to be careful and not overdo herself or it could be dangerous. She squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath. She hadn't done this in a long time, and it made her a little nervous. _'Hansha Chakra no Justu! (reflective chakra jutsu)'_ she yelled at Inner Sakura. _**'Shannaro! It's about time! Kya!'**_ Suddenly, she saw a flash of white through her closed eyes and her body felt a river of new, heavy chakra pulsing through it. Sakura examined the world as she opened her eyes, the whites of her eyes were covered as they were now all pitch black and glowing. She looked around slowly, seeing nothing but black and white, which meant that it had worked. She stood up and noticed the black chakra spiraling around her body and smiled. It had been awhile since she'd gotten to use this, as it was forbidden for her to practice it more than once every couple of months by Tsunade, she'd said it could really hurt Sakura if she trained it any more than that. "Genjitsu ni modori! (Back to reality)" she yelled aloud, and she watched as the color slowly came back into her vision, the chakra around her faded, and her eyes turned their normal beautiful emerald color.

When she had found this as a child, she had always felt uneasy about it. It's not everyday you hear someone tell you they have a split personality, so she kept it to herself for a long time, not feeling comfortable telling people. When Ino had gotten into her mind during the chuunin exams, she didn't know Inner Sakura would take over, but she did. She'd made Ino promise not to tell anyone once they had become friends again, but after Tsunade had become her shishou, Sakura was tired of hiding it and decided to have her use some of her chakra to examine Sakura's mind.

_Tsunade came into the small room and greeted Sakura as she lay on a cot waiting on her. The Hokage had been awake all night reading and studying all about the Haruno clan in preparation for what Sakura wanted her to see. She was a little disappointed, because she had only found one thing like what her apprentice had said she'd experienced, but there was no way it was possible._

_After setting her things to the side, Tsunade took off her Hokage cloak and took a seat next to Sakura. "This isn't going to hurt, but it will feel slightly uncomfortable and intrusive. Don't worry, that's only natural," she warned. She closed her eyes and put her hands on Sakura's temple, letting her chakra gently flow into Sakura's brain to try and get a closer look into her mind. Her eyes shot open the instant the chakra touched Sakura's brain._

"_Tamashī no mohō (soul imitation)..." Tsunade whispered out loud. There was no way... This couldn't be possible! This hadn't been in the Haruno bloodline for hundreds of years, and even then, it had only been in the Haruno men. Tsunade had never seen anything like this before, and from what she had read, this could not only be extremely dangerous for any of Sakura's opponents, but also for Sakura herself. _

_Tsunade sat Sakura up and looked deep into her eyes. "Sakura, I'm glad you brought this to me whenever you did. I want to start training this with you,but you need to know some very important things before we begin," Tsunade said. Sakura noticed that her face looked nervous, her eyes were wide. She could tell that the Godaime's mind was in a completely different place._

"_First off, Sakura," Tsunade started. "What you have is known as tamashī no mohō. Your personality isn't just a separate part of your brain... It's a completely different soul." Sakura's jade orbs widened in confusion. "I don't understand, shishou. What does that mean?" Sakura inquired. _

"_It means that you have two separate chakra sources. It's kind of how Naruto has the nine-tailed fox. Only, yours isn't a demon... It's a bloodline trait, like the Hyuga clan's Byakugan. The only thing that's confusing me is I don't know how you obtained this trait. It hasn't been in the Haruno bloodline for hundreds of years, and it was only apparent in the males of the clan." Tsunade paused to let Sakura soak everything in as she saw her dumbfounded look. This was nothing that she, as a teacher to this young kunoichi, needed to be taking lightly. Sakura had no idea of the kind of power and strength she held. And here she was, the weakest link of team 7, but little did anyone know, she had just as much strength and power as the rest of the team...she was just too worried about things that didn't matter. It was time for Tsunade to knock some sense into her. She couldn't let Sakura waste this amazing chakra._

"_Listen to me, Sakura. This is not something to take lightly, this is a very powerful bloodline trait to posses. There are different levels to it, and we are only going to train you to tap into the first level. Anything farther than that could kill you. Promise me one thing," the Godaime looked very intently into the eyes of the cherry blossom-haired young woman._

"_Yes, Tsunade-sama?" Sakura asked, confused and nervous. Hearing that she could die from her own bloodline trait wasn't exactly anything less than intimidating._

"_You must never open up all levels of this trait unless it is a live or die situation to save your village or those you love."_

Sakura's ears perked as she heard the _snap!_ of her trap going off. She sighed to herself as she looked over and found a very unhappy Sasuke hanging upside down with a rope around one of his ankles.

"I guess your stealth isn't as good at seeing traps as it is when you're spying on people," Sakura said as she smirked at him, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"Get me down," Sasuke said dryly.

"Why were you spying on me?" Sakura asked, raising an eyebrow as Sasuke's furrowed slightly. He was getting annoyed and it amused her.

Sasuke just stared at Sakura and finally used his own strength to pull himself up, cut the rope around his leg and flip around to land on his feet. He watched as Sakura walked inside the old wooden house, turning on the lights. She hadn't yet had the time to inspect the house, so she walked through the rooms of the house. There was a small kitchen area, a bathroom, two small bedrooms and a little living and dining area. Sakura came out and stood on the front porch of the house, seeing Sasuke staring as her in a quizzical manner. It was almost impossible to ignore him, but she tried as she sat down at the edge of the porch, letting her feet hang off.

Man, if Sasuke hadn't gotten even more beautiful than before... Sakura looked away from him and down to her lap to hide the redness on her cheeks. She needed to stop thinking like this. "Sasuke?" She called as she looked up to him. "Would you like some food?"

"Hn."

And even though she had no idea what that meant, Sakura got up and made her way into the village with Sasuke. The walk there was silent, and instead of eating out, Sakura had decided to buy groceries to take back to the small house since she planned on staying there for awhile. This would have annoyed Sasuke, but Sakura didn't ask him to hold the bags the entire way back.

Once they got to the house, Sasuke sat on the front porch staring outside while Sakura made dinner. He sat silently looking up at the stars, thinking about the words Sakura had said to him. They'd been on his mind all day. That's why he was here, so he could change the person he was, so he could give his life a purpose. But why was she here? Was she on some kind of mission? If so, that meant he had to leave or she would tell Konoha officials about spotting Sasuke, and he didn't want to go back to that Kami-forsaken village.

Sakura sat next to Sasuke and handed him a plate of food and chopsticks and started eating her food. They ate in silence and Sakura took their plates and cleaned them off, putting them away when she was finished, and came back, sitting down next to Sasuke again.

Sasuke looked over to Sakura, noticing something he hadn't before. "You're not wearing your hitai-ate," he said with monotonicity. It was supposed to sound like a question, but Sakura knew he was meant it more in a statement like way. He didn't want a 'yes' or a 'no,' he wanted an explanation.

Sakura looked up to Sasuke and looked into the sky, putting her folded hands in her lap. "My last night in the village, Naruto got mad because I had been training before sunrise and past sundown," Sakura smiled to herself bitterly as she remembered her good friend, and how his face lit up whenever she finally accepted dinner. Sasuke kept his eyes on her, waiting for her to continue.

"I've trained and grown a lot since you left the village. Every morning I wake up before sunrise to train, and I don't go home until after sunset, even past then sometimes. I have gotten much stronger than I used to be, but it's not as much as I would like. So I got a "mission" to leave Konoha and train, and here I am. I am here to train and find myself, and better myself as a shinobi. I no longer want to be the weak one getting in the way. I came here because I wanted to be somewhere nobody could find me so I could learn how to test myself to the limits. I'd been on a mission and passed this place, so when I left Konoha, I knew I could come here and be safe. But, I guess I haven't changed much, because even in trying to better myself I got in your way...and I haven't seen you in years." At this point, Sakura was more of speaking her thoughts and less explaining. Sasuke noticed this as he saw her focus looked as though it was somewhere else but this present moment.

"Hn." He closed his eyes and faced forward. Sasuke knew why she was there now, but he didn't want to say why he was; it wasn't her concern, but he knew she was going to ask anyway.

"I'm here because I've already accomplished my life goals. I'm only here to train so I can become better everyday and stay somewhere where I won't be found." Sakura looked at Sasuke wide-eyed. She hadn't expected him to explain his side of things.

"Your goals?" she inquired.

"I've killed Danzo, Madara, Itachi and Orochimaru."

Inner Sakura palmed her forehead. Of course that's what he meant, how could she have forgotten? That's what drove him away from the village.

They sat outside for a moment in silence, both lost in thought. Sasuke was surprised at how comfortable he felt around Sakura. It'd been years since they'd spoken any words to each other, and even longer since he'd sat next to her. The silence wasn't awkward to him, he welcomed it, actually. It gave him time to think without her intruding into his thoughts and yet gave him the company of someone to share those thoughts with. He'd never thought he'd see Sakura more than anything other than annoying, and it was very weird to him.

"I don't have to stay here," Sasuke heard her say. He raised an eyebrow as she looked at him.

"I don't want to get in your way, Sasuke." She said as she looked down at her hands.

Sasuke scoffed, "Then don't."

Sakura looked up into Sasuke's eyes, into his very emotionless face.

"You seriously don't mind me staying?" She asked as she watched him stand up.

"Don't be annoying," was the last thing she heard him say before he walked in the house, shutting the wooden door behind him.

Sakura had trained herself to forget about Sasuke. Once her parents died, she had more to worry about than being a broken-hearted, lovesick teenager who needed to bring him back to the light. She had cried over him long enough and wasted enough of her life thinking of him that she could have spent training, but she couldn't say she had ever forgiven him for that night, or that she had ever stopped missing him. So it came as a surprise to her whenever she looked up at the stars and couldn't help but smiling a genuine smile, for the first time in a long time, all because of him.

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**Thank you for reading! Reviews are always more than welcomed. (Of course.) And I hope you liked it!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Okay! So I wanted to apologize for all the time between this chapter and chapter four. I let someone borrow my laptop, and whenever I got it back, it was FULL of viruses. We bought a protector thing for it, I just have to put it on here before the viruses get any worse. That being said, it's kind of hard for me to upload while all of this is going on, so I just ask and thank you in advance for your patience. Also, I know I haven't mentioned this before, but I accept anonymous reviews as well. Each review is just as important to me, because I'd love to know what all of you think. Every opinion is just as important, account or not. But I'll shut up... Now onto chapter five!**

* * *

It was still dark when Sakura was jolted awake in her sleep from yet another nightmare. Her breaths were short and deep as her body shook violently under the covers, her wide eyes staring deep into the palms of her hands, but her mind thinking of nothing but the horrors of her dreams.

What must this mean? It was the same dream she'd had last time, except, instead of Naruto being dead, this time it was Sasuke...

_'It's probably just my mind stressing,' _Sakura thought to herself. But she couldn't shake the feeling that it might mean something. Even if it did, she didn't think sitting here crying over it would help anything, so she got dressed and silently (as to not wake Sasuke) walked out of her room, on the opposite side of the house from Sasuke's, and into the clearing in front of the house to train, shutting the little wooden door behind her.

Sakura usually loved the calming feeling of training her medical ninjutsus before the sun rose up, but this time something was different. She couldn't get the images of Sasuke and Naruto out of her mind, and although she related the nightmares with stress, she couldn't help but feeling as though the nightmares might have actually meant something. If they did, she was going to make sure that she trained as hard as she could to protect them, she couldn't let anyone else die because she was too weak to save them.

* * *

"Naruto-kun," he heard queitly behind his stool at Ichiraku's.

"Hinata-chan!" he turned around and greeted her with a smile. Hinata and Naruto had been dating for quite some time now. They'd hidden their relationship from her father for about a year, but Naruto decided once he actually fell in love with Hinata that it would be time to tell her father.

At first, Hyuga Hiashi was not at all pleased, but after a couple of months he'd learned that Hinata would do as she pleased any way so he relented and, much to their surprise, ended up really caring about the young kyuubi boy.

So, here they were, the day after their three year anniversary, and Hinata was almost just as shy as the day she met Naruto. Of course, now he could kiss her and show affection without her fainting, but the redness of her face and the butterflies in her stomach had never really gone away. Naruto was glad for this, because he loved her whenever she blushed, it was adorable, he thought. She'd sworn that it had maybe even gotten worse, but that was only because her love for him had grown over the years.

She sat down in the stool next to him as he ordered them both bowls of ramen. He smiled at her and they talked about the amount of time that had passed since they first met, and how crazy it was that they were now twenty years old.

"E-everyone has grown so much since we were genin," Hinata stuttered. "Especially S-Sakura-chan. I think she's grown th-the most of all of us."

She watched as the light in Naruto's eyes started to dull and he stared down at his ramen. "Yeah. She has, hasn't she?" he muttered depressingly.

Naruto had told her that Sakura was on a mission and he didn't know when she'd be back after he'd visited the hokage's office just yesterday, he'd pulled the note from his pocket and shown her and expressed that he was very worried for Sakura.

Sakura and Naruto's friendship was hard for Hinata to handle at the beginning of their relationship, because she'd believed that Naruto was still in love with Sakura. But as the years passed, Hinata realized they were family to each other, and that Naruto treasured Sakura more than most people, if Hinata were to take a guess, she might have said maybe more so than herself even. Because Naruto and Sakura were the only family each other had left, especially after Sasuke had already left the village. And because of Naruto's love for Sakura, Hinata had grown to understand and love Sakura the same.

She may not have loved her as much as Naruto did, because she couldn't understand the hurt, but she loved Sakura because Naruto held an undying trust and love for her. Hinata thought back to the time Naruto told him Sakura fought the sound ninja who had tried to attack Naruto and Sasuke during the chuunin exams. Anyone willing to risk their life to save this man sitting next to her was a person worthy of all of the love in the world, Hinata thought.

Hinata gently squeezed Naruto's hand and looked into his eyes. "She'll be okay, Naruto-kun. Whatever mission this is, Hokage-sama trusted her with it. Doesn't that make her strong enough to do this? We should trust her m-more than this."

She waited as Naruto sat still for a moment, and smiled to herself as the Naruto she knew came back, looking to her with a huge smile on his face. "You're right, Hinata-chan! This is why I love you!" He yelled as he threw his arms around her, and she swore she died a little inside at his touch.

Naruto was walking home from Hinata's compound. The sun was still up and everyone in the village was still out and about, but Naruto just wanted some alone time to collect his thoughts. He had already lost Sasuke to Orochimaru because he wanted revenge. Is that what Sakura was trying to accomplish? Did she want revenge, too?

Naruto had never heard Sakura say that she'd thought her parents had been killed, but he knew her well enough to know that's what she'd been thinking all these years. Maybe that's why she'd trained herself so hard, and maybe that's why she'd left to train even harder. He didn't know for sure, he just hoped revenge wasn't what she was looking for, because she'd come out just as empty feeling as Sasuke had.

The kyuubi boy stopped in front of his apartment, noticing a chakra inside. Really? A ninja who was trying to break-in to his apartment? They should at least make sure they're not breaking into the home of a shinobi who could clearly kick their asses.

Naruto stepped inside very confidently and shut the door behind him, not trying to hide his presence, because if it were a ninja they would have already noticed him there anyway.

"I know you're here. Show yourself," Naruto said calmly.

Before he realized what was going on, he felt a needle in the back of his neck and his body collapsed. The last thing he saw before everything around him went dark was two arms grab his body and pick him up.

This was really not a good week.

* * *

Sakura lay on the ground, her body shaking from being overworked. She was breathing hard, short breaths as she let herself lay there for one last minute before she was to get up and continue training. The sun was out now and shown in her eyes as she propped her arm so she could sit up. After wiping away the loose strands of hair from her face, she went to stand when a hand on her shoulder stopped her.

"You need food," she heard from Sasuke's apathetic voice.

"I'm not done training yet," she argued as she stood, turning around to face Sasuke. To her surprise, he had onigiri in his hands. She assumed it was just for him and that he was telling her to make her own.

"Eat," he said as he shoved the onigiri in her hand, leaving her speechless as he walked away empty-handed.

She stood there a moment until she followed him into the house, watching as he ate his own food in silence. As usual, he looked up at her not saying anything, waiting for her to speak.

"Thank you, Sasuke," she muttered. She was embarrassed, really. She felt like a child around him, and after how hard she'd trained over the years, that wasn't exactly the most welcoming feeling in the world.

Sasuke's eyebrow almost raised as he noticed she still wasn't using the suffix, but he'd already registered in his mind that this wasn't the same Sakura from before, and even though she was still weak in his mind like the old Sakura, he knew that she probably didn't love him like she used to. Of course, that didn't bother him. She would stay out of his way in this case, plus he could understand her feelings, in a way, he figured he probably deserved it.

"Hn," was all he uttered out as he closed his eyes. He wasn't a man of many words, Sakura knew, so she'd accept the small 'you're welcome' for what it was. She crossed her legs and sat across from him, eating with him in silence, too deep in thought to notice when he got up and walked out of the house to do some training of his own after he'd finished his food.

Seven years.

Seven years had passed since the day he'd left. In those seven years, he'd tried to kill her, and she'd tried to kill him.

In those seven years, she'd learned to put her love for him in the back of her mind because Sasuke would never love her the way she loved him.

In those seven years, promises were broken, tears were shed, and people were changed. Some for the better, and some for the worse.

In those seven years, Sasuke had become a walking contradiction. Someone who was a complete stranger, but who she knew so much about. Someone she didn't know, but someone she could read like a book.

And she'd learned in the seven years since he'd left that life with Sasuke would always be this way. She'd always have more to learn about this man she had known so well at one point in time. But so much time had passed that she wondered if it was even worth trying to get to know him.

So she'd stopped trying, in those seven years, to find Sasuke. She'd given up hope, and come to terms with the fact that he would never love her and Naruto the way they loved him, and that Konoha would never be his home...that they would never be friends.

Yet, here she was, seven years later, eating lunch with him as though nothing had happened. They didn't talk, but there across from her had just sat a stranger, yet a friend, who meant everything and nothing at all to her. It angered her that after seven years, SEVEN YEARS, of her life, fighting, worrying, crying, training, bleeding, risking her life all for him...this is how they meet.

No apology. No 'I'm coming home.' No 'Thank you.'

Nothing.

And yet, it made her sad, because it was just like Sasuke not to say those things, but who was Sasuke anymore? She didn't know.

And so she got up and marched outside, standing in front of Sasuke, looking angry.

She didn't know what to say, and she didn't know what to do. So she stared at him angrily for a long time, letting her eyes betray all of the emotions she wouldn't, couldn't, tell Sasuke. Letting her face tell him of all the feelings she did and didn't hold for him anymore, because she didn't know this man standing before her, but she knew him better than anyone else did.

And as Sasuke stood before Sakura, watching her face betray the things she'd long ago shoved deep into her heart and locked away, he felt something he hadn't felt in the longest time.

Something he could only relate to the feeling he had when he thought about killing Itachi.

Seven years.

Sasuke had left the village seven years ago, and for the first time since those seven years had passed, he looked stared into Sakura's eyed and felt guilt and regret.

And for the first time since those seven years had passed, he didn't know why, but he'd wished he'd given her and Naruto the chance to let him in.

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**A/N: Okay! That's it for chapter five! ;D Honestly, so far, this is my favorite one. This was actually a lot of fun to write. **

**It's funny, because in real life, me and some of my friends actually represent some of the Naruto characters. I have pink hair (obv. Dyed) and green eyes, and my boyfriend had black hair and black eyes. My best friend is blonde-haired and blue eyed, and her boyfriend kind of looks like shikamaru. It's so weird. o.O Anyway! Thank you so much for reading! Please review if you'd like!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I've had a little bit of trouble with writing this chapter. I didn't know where to start, honestly, without being too predictable. So I hope y'all like it, and I'm sorry if you don't. Just remember, feedback (good and bad alike) is welcome.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters. I only own the storyline.**

* * *

His eyes opened slowly, but it was almost to no use. Everything around him was so blurry, his head so dizzy, that he couldn't see or even think straight if he wanted to.

Trying to make himself recover, he started reminding himself of who he was, to somehow maybe pull the right side of his mind to the front and help him establish where he was.

_I am Uzumaki Naruto. I am nineteen years old. I am a leaf-nin..._he repeated in his head over and over again, but there was no point – it wasn't working.

"I see you're awake," said a very clear, yet unfamiliar voice. "Good. We have some things to talk about."

Naruto slowly rolled his head over to where the talking blob was coming from. At this moment, he remembered he'd only been in his house what seemed like maybe an hour ago. Someone had drugged him and kidnapped him. Why?

"How long was I asleep?" He was barely able to speak. His throat was dry and achy from the lack of water, Naruto almost didn't even care if they killed him right here so long as he got a drink.

"Four days." He heard the careless voice. "Here, drink."

Naruto opened his mouth and began to gulp the water that was being given to him. When he was satisfied, he stopped drinking. He heard what sounded like the legs of a chair dragging on the ground, the noise stopping when the "blob" reached about a foot in front of him. The strange man sat in the chair in front of Naruto.

Although Naruto couldn't see it, this stranger in front of him wore a sadistic smirk. He leaned down, elbows to his knees, so he could get eye-level with his captive.

"Tell me about Uchiha Sasuke."

Naruto's eyes widened, his eyebrows came together in anger. "Hey! What do you want with Sasuke?"

Suddenly, Naruto felt a strong hand around his neck. Although it shocked him, he wasn't scared. He'd never been scared to take the blow for his friends and he supposed this time would be no different.

_'I'll protect you no matter what...'_

_'...Even if you do hate me.'_

"I'm the only one here asking the questions. Now, listen, punk. I need you to tell me where to find Uchiha Sasuke, if not-"

"You can't make me say shit! I'll never tell you where he is!" Naruto screamed.

Another sadistic smirk rose to the face of the strange man.

"Looks like I'll just have to kill you then."

* * *

_Sasuke had left the village seven years ago, and for the first time since those seven years had passed, he stared into Sakura's eyes and felt guilt and regret._

_And for the first time since those seven years had passed, he didn't know why, but he'd wished he'd given her and Naruto the chance to let him in._

"You-" Was all Sakura could muster up to say without faltering. Sasuke noticed that she was shaking from head to toe, and noticed the blush of anger rising to her cheeks.

"Sakura, what do you need?" He said annoyingly. Because whatever she was doing was making him regret not staying in Konoha, and that was annoying him. He shouldn't regret that choice; it was what he had to do.

"What do I need?!" Sakura finally stepped back a bit, only to lunge forward and push Sasuke by the shoulders with a grunt. He'd never admit it, but it actually really hurt.

"You always just walk in and out of our lives whenever you please!" She yelled at him. A gust of wind picked up the stray hairs falling from Sakura's bun atop her head. Sasuke might have found this cute had he not been, well... Sasuke.

"I can't help that our paths always cross. It's not like I intend them to," Sasuke uttered begrudgingly. He didn't need to have this talk with her, he needed to train.

Silence was thick in the air for awhile, almost tangeable. Sakura continued to stare at Sasuke in a way that made him feel uncomfortable, and guilty... and hurt.

"Where did all of this come from?" Sasuke asked.

"Here you are seven years later like nothing ever happened. The one thing you always needed was love, Sasuke," Sakura said as she walked through the clearing, toward the village. She refused to make eye contact with him, but his eyes followed her the whole way until she stopped next to him.

"And yet, it seems to be the one thing you will never accept," she spoke soft, yet firmly.

Sasuke pulled her by the arm and turned her to face him, Sharingan blazing. He was furious now. Who was she to be talk about things that were none of her business?!

"I told you to _stay out of my way_. What I need is none of your concern!" Sasuke shouted, nose to nose with the inhumanly strong kunoichi in front of him.

"All Naruto and I ever wanted was to make you feel loved!" She shouted back at him.

"Who said you and Naruto could have provided the 'love' that I needed?!" He said as let her go, putting air quotes around the word love as a sort of mockery.

Sakura's shoulders slumped and she let her arms drop, along with her expression. Sasuke hated it, he hated how fast she changed emotions. This woman was aggravating.

"Nobody had to say anything, Sasuke. We could all see a change in you in the short time we were friends...even you could," she muttered. "Which is exactly why you had ties to cut when you left. We gave you the love that you needed, whether you wanted it or not."

Her lip began to quiver and she walked away quietly, leaving a pissed off Sasuke to his thoughts as he trained.

* * *

The door was burst open, a meeting interrupted.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, Hokage-sama, but this is urgent news," Hinata spoke firmly. She hadn't stuttered, which told Tsunade this was something to be worried out.

"I apologize, but we'll have to schedule this meeting for later. It seems I have other duties to attend to." Tsunade apologized as she stood and bowed, closing the door behind the not-so-happy Mitokado Homaru and Utatane Koharu.

After the door closed, the Godaime stood for a minute rubbing her temples, then turned to Hinata expectantly.

"Hokage-sama," Hinata bowed ungracefully before continuing. "Naruto-kun has been kidnapped!"

'_What?!'_ Tsunde's eyes widened. "What do you mean?!" She shouted angrily as she paced around her office in a panic.

"Naruto has been gone for four days. Whoever has him wasn't t-trying to hide that they've taken him... His apartment door is wide open, and there was a syringe i-in the trashcan," Hinata explained as she began to choke up. "Tsunade-sama please! P-please help me find him!"

Tsunade closed her eyes and rubbed her temples, deep in thought. "I want a team formed. Shikamaru, you and Kakashi are to meet me here in two hours. We will go over team rules and you will leave immediately afterward, mission's orders. Am I understood?!"

"Hai!" And Hinata was out of the door.

"Kuchiyose-no-Jutsu!" Tsunade yelled out, slamming her palm on the ground. After the '_poof!_' Tsunade gave only instructions, there was no time for greetings.

"Katsuyu! I need you to find Sakura and tell her it's important. Here-" Tsunade stopped for a moment to scrawl something down on a scroll. After properly sealing it, she handed it to Katsuyu. "Give her this. It explains everything. Now go!"

"Hai!" Another '_poof!_' and the summon was gone.

'_Naruto..._' Tsunade thought longingly. '_Where are you?_'

* * *

**A/N: Okay, so this chapter is a little shorter. I don't know if that's good or not, I suppose y'all will have to tell me! Like I said, I've had a bit of trouble writing it, and I honestly don't like how it turned out, but if you guys do then that's all that matters!**

**IMPORTANT MESSAGE****: The reason this update was so late (and I do apologize for how long you've waited) is because ****I got engaged! I am SO HAPPY. That being said, planning a wedding, working full time and going to college full time is not easy, _so _**_**I don't know how often I will be able to update**_**_._ But please, please bear with me because I promise to continue on with the story as soon as I possibly can. THANK YOU to all of my amazing readers (yes, ever you anon!). PLEASE R&amp;R! Anon or not, it would really make my heart happy! I love you ALL! Thank you!**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Well, I'm getting some spare time to write, thank God! I hope you enjoy, and thank you to all of my awesome readers. This chapter is pretty much just going to be focused on sasusaku, just so you know what to expect. I felt like our characters needed a bit more of themselves in the story. I digress, enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters, just the plot to this story.**

* * *

Three days had passed since the day Sakura had last talked to Sasuke. It was like she was living with a stranger, which, she kind of was. It was bothering her a lot more than it should have. She would stick with her regular routine: training from sun up to sun down, breaking only an hour for lunch. She had seen herself improve slightly over the past three days, which made her satisfied. At this rate, she'd be back home in no time.

But she couldn't shake the anger she had for Sasuke, no matter what. Here he was, living with her, and of course never saying a word to her. _**'Maybe if you would learn to bite your tonuge...'**_ Inner Sakura rolled her eyes. '_So maybe it is my fault. But still..._'Sakura sighed. '_I guess I shouldn't have expected anything else._'

Although, she never dreamed the day would come when she would actually live with Sasuke in somewhere other than her fantasies. Of course, they never went quite like this. She wasn't complaining, though. Sakura wasn't here for Sasuke, and regardless of what he used to mean to her or even still meant, she wasn't going to let herself be distracted. She just saw it as one more person she would have to prove herself to. And, though she would never admit it, it was nice just being near him...even if they were angrily ignoring each other. His presence was so oddly peaceful, and yet so angering all in one.

She lay on the grass and looked up at the stars, letting the breeze cool her heated body from training. Feeling the soft blades of grass under her, she sighed. Doing this reminded her of training with Naruto. Every night when they decided they were done, they would lie on the grass together and watch the stars until Naruto whined that he was going to die of starvation if he didn't eat soon. Sakura closed her eyes and smiled; she missed her kyuubi friend dearly.

"Sakura-san." Sakura's eyes shot open.

"Nani? Katsuyu? What are you doing here?"

"I have information for you from Tsunade-sama. It's urgent," Katsuyu warned as Sakura took the scroll.

"Kai!" Sakura said, releasing the seal. As she read the scroll, her jaw dropped and her eyes widened.

'_No..._'

This could not be happening.

Naruto could not be missing. Kidnapped... It just couldn't happen. Whoever took him was going to pay, big time.

"Katsuyu. Go to Tsunade-sama. Tell her I have received the information and left immediately."

"Yes ma'am!" Katsuyu shouted, about to leave.

"One more thing before you go, Katsuyu," Sakura warned.

"Nn?"

Sakura's face grew dark, the intent to kill present on her face.

"Tell her I won't come back without him."

"Hai!" was the last thing Sakura heard before she saw Katsuyu leave.

She ran at full speed to the house, accidentally flinging the door off of its hinges and throwing it to the side. She made a mental note to fix that if she ever came back.

Running to "her" room, she made no time to close the door as she switched into her ANBU Black Ops uniform. Sakura held her mask in her hands as she ran into the kitchen to put a week's worth of food in her pack. Thank Kami she had decided to premake lunches so she wouldn't waste time while she was training... It saved her at least thirty minutes she didn't have to spare now.

She ran back to the room with all of the food, checking her pack at least three times to make sure she had everything she would need. Now it was time to check her weapons pouch.

'_Scrolls, check. Senbon, check. Kunai and ninja stars, check..._' She mentally listed.

"What are you doing?" She heard Sasuke's apathetic voice speak out for the first time in three days. Had she not been so frantic, she would have notice her heart flutter slightly at the sound of his smooth baritone.

"Naruto has been kidnapped," she said without looking up. Mentally going through her checklist of everything one more time before zipping up her pack and putting it on. Sakura grabbed her mask and cloak off of the neatly made bed and turned to look at Sasuke. "I have no time to waste. You're coming or you're not, but either way, I'm going to get him."

Sakura ran past Sasuke and to the front door, dressing in her cloak and hiding behind a mask resembling a cat, putting her boots and gloves on. She retied her hair to secure it, pulling her hood over her head to hide her identity completely.

* * *

Sasuke rolled his eyes as he ran to the room he'd been staying in, packing his things. It was never like Naruto to be unable to get himself out of trouble, so she shouldn't be so worried, but then again, it was Sakura.

But that was the thing... It was Sakura.

She wasn't strong enough to save him on her own anyway, so he didn't know why she even thought he would let her go alone. She would die; what a foolish girl she still was. Did she not know that someone strong enough to take Naruto was already out of her trying range? She should have just left it alone and let Naruto fend for himself. But Sasuke knew that she never would, which was exactly why he zipped up his pack and ran out into the clearing.

She was already gone, but she wasn't far. He could still feel her chakra close by. But he would need to hurry... If he took too long to catch up it would be too late.

Foolish Sakura, she was going to get herself hurt before she even got there. She should have just waited. If she did that, it would only take them longer to get to Naruto. Here she was again not thinking straight. Sasuke pushed chakra into his feet and ran in the trees to catch up.

He could feel himself closing in on her, and as he did, he could feel his annoyance with her rising. He felt as if he could scream at her, but that was too troublesome. He already had to be by her nonstop for Kami-knows-how-long; he didn't need to make it any worse than it already was.

Sakura slowed but didn't stop once Sasuke caught up, not uttering a word.

It was like this for an hour before he finally spoke up.

"Do you have any idea where you're going? How do you know he's gone?"

Sakura gave Sasuke a side glance under her mask, but nothing more before answering his inquiry.

"Tsunade-sama wrote to me via summon. She said it's been reported that he's been missing approximately a week by the time I would have received the scroll. Kakashi-sensei summoned Pakkun to search for Naruto. We are to meet Kakashi-sensei and the rest of the search team just east of here, about a day's travel," she answered flatly.

Sasuke only nodded, unsurprised by Sakura's sense of direction and her uncanny ability to retain information. She'd always been the smartest on the team.

They ran for what seemed like forever, and Sasuke was beginning to grow tired and could tell that Sakura was growing weak, too. But he'd have to admit, he was very impressed by her stamina. Of course, he'd never tell her that. She would just let it go to her head... But, then again, maybe not, because she didn't seem to be the same Sakura he had left on the bench all those years ago.

Wasn't he trying to be a better person anyway? Maybe, but he decided that didn't necessarily mean that he had to be more kind. Besides, she probably wouldn't care anyway.

Sasuke's thoughts were interrupted when his female companion jumped down from a tree onto the ground. He followed suit. Without looking up to him, she said, "Kakashi and his team will be too far out to meet us tonight. We have half a day's travel left, so we'll camp out here for the night."

He watched as she laid down her sleeping bag and could see the hurt and worry in her eyes. Sasuke made his own sleeping bag just across from hers and set up a fire in the middle of the two. When he was done lighting the fire, he sat down back against a tree and closed his eyes. Sasuke realized the run here was a lot more tiring than he had originally thought, and that maybe he was right about being wrong about Sakura.

"Here. We missed dinner."

Sasuke opened his eyes to see Sakura standing in front of him with a handful of food in his face, which he gladly took, finally noticing his appetite.

"Arigatou," he said before taking a bite. Sasuke secretly loved when Sakura cooked instead of him. It reminded him of his mother's cooking that he missed so very much. He decided that was one nice thing about her.

Sasuke spared a side glance at her, noticing the depression on her face, and felt a pang in his chest. He used to get that feeling every time she cried around him when they were younger, so he knew what it was... He was hurting for her. Or, maybe this time, he was hurting _with_ her. Because his best-friend/rival had been taken from some stranger, and Kami, if he didn't have things to make up for with Naruto before he died. Plus, he still had to beat him one last time...

"You know," Sakura started, "I didn't think you'd come with me."

There went that pang in his chest again, except this time it was ten times worse. A twisting of his heart so bad he almost shook from the pain. And yet, he couldn't blame her, because he had been a traitor for seven years. Someone they had tried to save, but refused to take their helping hand. And now his comrade was in trouble and it was expected for him not to help. '_This is why I need to change,_' he thought to himself as he squeezed his eyes shut.

"I wasn't going to let you get yourself killed," was all he said to hide his thoughts.

But he knew Sakura could see right through that, because for whatever reason, she had always been able to. She could never breakdown his walls, but she never had to if she could see right through them. And even so many years later he didn't doubt that she would be able to see past his lies, which is why he had to come up with something, fast, to distract her.

"You've gotten better stamina." Really? That's all he could come up with. But, hey, she smiled a little, so he supposed it worked.

She smiled a sad smile, but it was a smile none-the-less. "I told you, I'm not the same kunoichi I was back then." And that was all she said before she got up to lay on her sleeping bag. "I'll take first watch. You rest," she said.

* * *

Before he realized it, Sakura had woken Sasuke up and it was his turn for watch. He hated this part, it was so monotonous, and left him only with his ever-wandering thoughts.

Sasuke watched Sakura as she slept, noticing her eyebrows narrowed in distress. He took a moment to study her features and finally noticed how mature looking she had gotten. Sakura was actually quite beautiful now. He would be surprised if she hadn't had someone back home.

He remembered whenever he lived in Konoha, in the genin days, he'd always known that he was going to pick Sakura for his wife. But once Orochimaru promised him power everything changed, and suddenly restarting his clan hadn't been as important so long as he had power to kill Itachi.

And now that everything was out of the way, there was only one problem left... He still needed to rebuild his clan.

Sasuke shook his head. No, he couldn't be having thoughts like this. He didn't need to be distracted by her, not now. There were more important things to worry about, like getting Naruto back and how the two of them were going to do that. Thank Kami Kakashi and whoever else was coming to meet them up. Maybe he'd just split up with them and get rid of Sakura and all the feelings she brought him for good. So Naruto could be free and Sasuke could go back to his comfortably uncomfortable, miserable life of solitude.

Yeah, that sounded terrible, but he'd have to take it, because it would end up being that way whenever she went back to Konoha, anyway. He figured he might as well take the easy way out.

He closed his eyes and thought of the missing kyuubi boy. Sasuke couldn't lie and say he wasn't worried, because even if he did, it would be of no use. He didn't want to lose another loved one, and if Naruto died, there would be no way of Sasuke hiding it...he had already lost too much.

He let out a loud, heavy breath. "Naruto, you better not be dead. I still have to kick your ass."

* * *

**A/N: Alright! Interesting ending, I know. But very Sasuke, in my opinion! Sorry for any mistakes, it's late at night and I'm very tired. Anyway, please review (if you would like) and I hope you have enjoyed what you've read!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: I'm in an exceptionally good mood right now. My current job is hell, but I think I'll be switching to a cosmetic job soon and doing something I love, which would be quite refreshing. Life is looking up for me, readers. Thank you for always being so great. I hope you enjoy what I've written for you.**

**FOR MY READERS: I have made a tumblr! My URL is uchihacherryblossom. Why do I bring this up? I'm glad you asked! (loljk I'm stupid I know) Basically I made a tumblr so that all of my viewers can start sending me prompts that you would like me to write. SasuSaku fics only, but it may be any prompt you would like! Fluffy, smutty, one-shot or a full on fic. I don't care, it's all up to you! Please use this if you'd like, as I'd like to start writing more and getting more ideas!**

**(Okay I'll shut up now.)**

**Disclaimer: Naruto/the characters are not mine. I only own the plot to this story.**

* * *

Kakashi was always late to everything, but this time would be the exception. His student—no, his equal, had been kidnapped. Someone he was so very fond of was in danger, someone he held very close to his heart... He couldn't handle losing someone else this special to him, especially whenever he could have prevented it.

The tapping of feet against the bark of the trees could be heard as they ran: Kakashi, Hinata and Shikamaru. They were nervous and anxious, anticipating whatever they might encounter.

Hinata's lip quivered, her hands trembled. Meeting with Sakura couldn't come soon enough; she knew Sakura and Shikamaru would be smart enough to come up with a plan to save Naruto. But, there wasn't much hope that backed up that thought. How would they even find the person who'd done this? They left no clues, no trace of themselves. Someone strong enough to kidnap Naruto was probably even stronger than Kakashi-sensei, so if they, by some miracle from above, even found this person, how would they be sure to defeat him? How could they be strong enough to save Naruto-kun?

"Don't worry, Hinata," she heard the copy-nin's lazy voice call out as he placed a hand on her shoulder. "I won't let anything happen to him."

Hinata's lavender eyes stared back into one onyx one, widened, scared.

"I promise," he said as his eye crinkled in a smile. Though, if Hinata were to see under his mask, she would realize that he was just as worried as she was. Of course he was, but it was just like Kakashi to take the burden. That was who he was.

"This is where we stop," Shikamaru called out as he jumped down from the tree branch and onto the forest floor. "Knowing Sakura, she'll be here in no time."

* * *

The only thing heard from the two former comrades was panting breaths and the tapping of their shoes. Sasuke and Sakura had left many hours ago and should soon be reaching their destination.

Sasuke, however, had other plans.

"Sakura," he spoke as he haulted, she did the same shortly after.

"I won't be traveling to Kakashi with you."

Monotonous onyx met daring jade, and he could see the worry etched all over her face.

"But Naruto—"

Sasuke put a finger up to silence Sakura as he reached in his pack and took out a wireless radio. "Hide this. Use it to reach me only when you're aware of what we need to do. I don't want to run into them as it will only slow things down with all the "traitor" talk. We don't have time for that," he said as she took the radio.

"But where will you be?" She asked, shoving the radio into her pack. "And what if I don't split up on my own?"

"I'll stay as close as I can without being sensed. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. For now, you need to go. Hurry."

She turned around and was about to run, but before she did, she looked back at Sasuke once more. Her eyes expectant, and something akin to excitement sparkled in them, as well. She knew that with Sasuke on her side Naruto would surely be safe. There was no question.

"Arigatou, Sasuke." Sakura took no time to leave after this, running faster than she'd ever run before.

**. . .**

Team Kakashi knew Sakura was near before her feet hit the ground, which was good news; it meant less time wasted.

"Sakura," Kakashi greeted hurriedly. "As you all know, we are searching for our fellow shinobi, Naruto. We have no information on his whereabouts or who might have him and little to no time to find out. Does anyone have any ideas to formulate a plan?"

"Use a summon," Shikamaru's lazy voice chimed in. "They're dogs, so they're keen to smelling."

"Shikamaru is right, Kaka-sensei. We could use Pakkun to lead us to where Naruto is. Once we find the perimeters, we split up into groups to gather information around the area about whoever may have him. When we're ready, we pick a spot and meet back there." Sakura could feel the authority she usually used in the hospital coming out, but if it's what needed to happen then so be it. She mentally crossed her fingers while Inner Sakura groaned something about splitting up into groups for Sasuke.

"Hmm. I suppose that could work," Kakashi rubbed his chin in thought. The sound of thunder rolled in the distance.

"Byakugan!" Hinata studied the sky closely for a moment before closing her eyes. "The storm is about six miles behind us. If we start running now we'll have longer before it hits."

"We'd better get moving then," Kakashi said as he slammed his hand on the ground, summoning the little brown dog.

Pakkun looked around for a moment before placing his eyes on Sakura. "Ne, Sakura-chan?" He walked over to her for greeting, sniffing her. They both tensed slightly, knowing exactly what was wrong.

Sasuke... Pakkun could smell his scent.

Sakura shared a moment of silence with Pakkun, her eyes begging him not to say anything. She would usually threaten him, but she was so emotionally exhausted and so ready to find Naruto that anger, for once, wasn't the first emotion that consumed her. _'Please, Pakkun...'_ she thought.

His face lifted in a sad smile. "You sure have grown since I last saw you," was all he muttered before turning to Kakashi.

"Naruto has been kidnapped. We need you to find him by smell," he started. "Does anyone have anything of Naruto's?"

"Here!" Hinata shoved Naruto's forehead protector into Kakashi's hand. "Please, don't lose it," she murmured with tear-filled eyes.

"Don't worry, Hinata. I'll save him," Sakura's soothing yet authoritative voice chimed in, her hand in placed on Hinata's back. "I'll save him no matter what!"

Hinata looked at Sakura, silently thanking her as Pakkun smelled the headband.

"This way!" he jumped, and they were instantly on their way.

* * *

Sasuke had been following them for hours, he figured they were probably trying to find a place to rest for the night as they stopped finally, but they stayed talking for awhile, so Sasuke deemed it fit to sit and hide until Sakura was able to radio him.

The sky around him was black as the wind thrashed and the rain poured from its depths. The area was mountainous, but he couldn't quite depict where they were located. He'd usually been quite well for that kind of thing, but not as good as Sakura had been.

Sasuke wondered as he waited for her how she was doing. Was she worried? He knew she was, and as the thunder clapped around him, he found himself becoming slowly irritable with Sakura for not calling on him yet. There was no time to lolly-gag around and if she wouldn't hurry, he'd just have to save Naruto himself. Though, he figured he'd probably end up doing that anyway if Sakura was anything like her old self.

But, then again, she'd only shown him the opposite so far. When he thought that she would cower to him, she didn't. When he thought she couldn't ignore him, she did. She gave him all the space he never would have gotten when they were younger. She trained almost all hours of the day, her stamina being just as good as his. And that chakra he felt coming from her the first day... What was that? It was a terrifyingly strong and dark chakra, one that he never would have assumed would come from her. He wanted to know more about it, but should he really ask her? Sasuke didn't know if that would be the appropriate move, or if he should just wait for the right moment.

"_Sasuke, can you hear me?"_

Finally.

"Hai," he said softly into the radio.

"_Meet me just east of where you are. I left subtle hints while traveling so you'll know where I am. Hurry, we don't have long,"_ he heard Sakura's voice under the static before it cut out.

Sasuke smirked to himself as he began running. He couldn't deny that he was proud of her for thinking of such a thing like that, he knew he wouldn't have. But, she always had been a genius, so he figured he never should have doubted her. He slowed for a moment as he looked around, not seeing Sakura's clues. If he knew anything about Sakura, it was that she always saw underneath the underneath, meaning she was being so sneaky he'd have to use sharingan. _'Good thinking, Sakura...'_ he thought to himself.

Eyes closed, eyes open, sharingan blazing. He found it in no time. She'd bitten her thumb, he was assuming, because he noticed little drops of blood scattered about from tree to tree. This would have taken a lot of thinking for him, but he knew it had come natural to her. Haruno Sakura had always been thinking on her feet, he was sure she was a hard enemy to beat in the tactic aspect of battle.

He ran until he found her, which came in what seemed like no time thanks to her help. He would have found her regardless, but he was assuming she was hurrying him by leaving her mark. Sasuke found Sakura kneeling behind a bush after she pulsed her chakra for him. He knelt down beside her.

"We've found where Naruto may be," she whispered as she looked at Sasuke. His sharingan was the only way he could understand her words as the thunder rolled dramatically behind them and the rain beat down, drowning out the noise of her voice.

"Why aren't we there yet?" Sasuke asked angrily. "Shouldn't we be out there trying to save him?"

"They want to get more information on who might live there so we know who we're dealing with," Sakura said, voice raised so that Sasuke could hear her over the storm. "Kakashi thinks it's best to wait until tomorrow to get information and act, but..."

Sasuke smirked as he looked at her. "But you don't want to."

Sakura didn't have to respond for him to know he was correct, the way she looked at him was enough. Her sad, worried, excited and nervous eyes were enough to get his adrenalin pumping and his heart racing, and he noticed the pull of his chest again and the burning of his stomach. Sasuke realized for the first time that he wasn't just saving Naruto for himself, but for Sakura as well. Because though he could never tell her, Sasuke would never be able to live with himself for being the main source of Sakura's pain another time. He wanted to do everything he could to make sure that Naruto was safe, for him because that was his best friend, and for Sakura, because he realized he could no longer stand to see her broken. Maybe, just maybe, this would make things better. Maybe this would make up for that night all those years ago.

"So what's your plan?" he asked as he stared back at her, face stoic once again.

"There's a pub not too far out from here, well, several of them," Sakura began. "We purchase a hotel room. You go searching for information anyway you can and I'll go to the pub to get information. We meet in the hotel room exactly three hours later. Once we've compared and gathered the right amount, we leave, get Naruto and kill the bastard who stole him."

"There's only one thing I see wrong with this: What happens when Kakashi and his team realize you're missing?" Sasuke asked. If this was going to work, Kami he hoped it would, they would have to fix all of the problems before they started.

Sakura turned to look at Sasuke again, one eyebrow raised and a smirk on her face, "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

Damn it, there she went using his words against him again. She stood then, standing over him and staring longingly into the rain.

Sakura may not have been the strongest kunoichi he knew growing up, but he'd admit that she'd always been the first one to cheer everyone on. She always had everyone's best interest at heart, and that showed right now more than ever. Sakura had eventually become the type to fight for what she loved, whether she would win or lose, at least she was fighting. Sasuke had always respected that about her when they were comrades.

The time she'd tried to protect him and Naruto and he awoke to her bloody and bruised form sitting over them, protecting them knowing it might cost her life, he was ready to kill the man who'd laid hands on her. Sure, the curse mark played a huge role in that, but Sasuke knew deep down that, had it been anyone else besides her or Naruto, he wouldn't have cared as much.

But it was Sakura. The one who'd chased after him, pursued him, the only one who had ever been able to make the curse mark recede just by the sound of her voice, the one who tried to kill Sasuke just to save him from himself. She'd risked her life, all for him. She was one of the most selfless people he knew.

And here she was getting herself into trouble again. Sakura knew she would be in trouble when she was caught, it was inevitable. But as long as Naruto was gone, she didn't care, she'd do everything she could to save him, despite herself. So as Sasuke stood next to her, he honored the new level of respect he'd gained for Sakura. Because even if she was still weak, she was determined, and it was a lot less annoying to work with someone who had a smart mind and a determined heart.

They shared a moment of silence before looking to each other.

"Let's do this."

The two shinobi ran together through the storm to find the closest hotel they could, making sure to keep themselves hidden and their chakra masked to keep Kakashi and his team at bay for as long as they could.

Sakura and Sasuke weren't usually the type for impromptu plans, but it involved Naruto, someone neither of the two could stand to lose.

After finding a cheap hotel room, Sakura jumped in the shower and Sasuke changed into dry clothes as to keep himself from getting sick. He walked around the room a bit, admiring how nice the hotel was for such a cheap price. Not that it mattered what he spent, he had loads of money, but it was quite interesting. Their room was a spacious one-bed, the bathroom having marble counter-tops and a bathtub big enough to easily fit three people.

Sasuke heard the water turn off and the shower curtain open and walked to the locked door.

"Where is this place we're supposed to be looking for?" he inquired. Usually he would have just given her space, but he didn't know how long she was going to take and they didn't exactly have much time to begin with.

He heard a muffled, "In the mountains in a hideout just about three miles outside of here."

**. . .**

Sasuke sat on the bed for what seemed like an hour waiting for Sakura. He was growing impatient, but sat up as soon as he heard the unlocking of the bathroom door. He was not at all expecting what awaited him.

Sakura had never been the type of girl to wear makeup, and after the Forest of Death incident, she'd stopped really caring about anything looks-wise other than making sure she was decent. But the Sakura that stood before him looked like someone who had practiced everyday for years.

She walked out of the bathroom, her waist length hair in messy curls all around her. She wore a tight, low-cut, black tunic that was way too short for anyone else to see her in, in Sasuke's opinion. Sakura had her usual shorts on underneath, complimenting the curves of her legs just right with civilian sandals. He looked up to her face then; her eyes looked magnificent with the light and dark brown smokey-eye make-up, her eyeliner was thick and it appeared to him as though she was wearing false eyelashes.

Sasuke could feel his ears burning with embarrassment. Sakura looked amazing, he wasn't supposed to see her this way. But, Kami, he couldn't help himself. She just looked so beautiful this way. A short thought popped into his head if she would ever get this done up had he ever decided to take her out on a date, but he pushed the thought away as soon as it came.

"No," he said firmly as he glared at her.

Sakura threw Sasuke a questioning glance.

"You can't go out there looking like that," Sasuke pushed.

"And why is that?" Sakura folded her arms and Sasuke couldn't miss the way her breasts pushed together when she did, the tunic revealing them ever-so-slightly. He looked away then, eyes to the floor, face burning with an oncoming blush. _This_ was why she couldn't wear that. It was quite obvious to him, he wasn't even thinking of her this way before she put the damn thing on! At least Sasuke could control himself, but he couldn't say the same for other men. It was scary the amount of power women had over men and in such a way that neither of them really know until they're stuck in a position like this.

Sasuke tried to think of a way to tell Sakura what he was thinking. _"You're dressed too revealing."_ That would get him murdered. _"You're going to be raped."_ He got pissed off at even the thought of saying that, because he would kill any man who dared to lay his hands on Sakura...

He closed his eyes, leaving them shut for awhile before looking back at her, his onyx eyes holding a much softer expression. "I don't want you getting hurt, Sakura."

To say that Sakura was stunned was a huge understatement, in her opinion. Never had she ever heard Sasuke express that he actually cares for her well-being. Especially after all the years they had spent apart, she would think that any cares he had for her back then had been hidden with the rest of him somewhere down inside. But, the old Sasuke seemed to be coming out a lot more lately. She smiledto herself as she thought about this, about the Sasuke she'd known finally becoming himself again.

Sakura walked over to him then and placed a hand on his shoulder, she could feel him stiffen under her touch, probably not used to close contact like this. She wasn't sure whether he welcomed it or not, but eventually he relaxed, so she assumed he was okay and her emerald orbs found his black ones. "I have to do this, it's the only way the pigs who know enough information on whoever our guy is will tell me."

"You're going to get sick."

Sakura giggled then, Sasuke narrowing his eyes. He didn't see what was funny.

"You do realize you're lecturing a medic, right?" She looked at Sasuke, amusement dancing in her eyes. As he looked back, he felt butterflies going crazy in his stomach. He hadn't heard her genuine laugh or seen her eyes happy in such a long time, he forgot how much he used to love it.

"I will be fine, I promise," she said. "Now, onto more important business."

Sakura and Sasuke both stood a little more straight then, preparing themselves mentally for what was to come.

"Will these radios do fine long distance?" She asked.

Sasuke nodded.

"Then we'll use them to our advantage. When you find something, let me know through radio and I'll do the same. It's late enough now that Kakashi and his team won't be out. We should be able to retain all of the information we need and be ready to go just before sunset."

Sasuke just stared stoically back at Sakura as she spoke, he wasn't used to taking orders anymore, he'd always given orders when it came to Team Taka. This was definitely something new for him to say the least. But Sakura seemed like she knew what she was doing so he would respect that as much as he could.

"Any questions?"

Sasuke did have one question burning in the back of his mind.

"How exactly are you going to be...getting information?" He questioned, feeling the heat rising to his cheeks. He noticed then that Sakura was also blushing, much worse than he was.

"I'm not sleeping with anyone, Sasuke."

For whatever reason it felt like a ton of bricks had just been lifted off of Sasuke. He felt much better now that he heard that, though he didn't know why... It wasn't like sex with her was anything appealing, right? He took a glance at her and immediately looked away. He couldn't look at her right now, not while she looked like this.

"I have no further questions," Sasuke said as he stared as the ground, a frown present on his face.

Sakura grabbed a coat then, covering herself a lot more than what was under it, and Sasuke silently thanked her.

"Good luck," Sakura said before closing the hotel room door behind her, leaving Sasuke by himself.

"_Just checking to make sure this thing is going to work,"_ he heard her voice again over the radio.

"Aa."

"_It's go time!"_

* * *

**A/N: This chapter is a lot longer than some of my other ones, so I hope you enjoy that. And don't worry, fluffiness will be coming soon, but remember that this is more of an angsty kind of love story than a fluffy kind, so it'll be a bit different. Thank you everyone for reading! If you enjoyed, please let me know somehow so I can be more inspired to continue to write!**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: I am so sorry it has taken this long to write. There has been a lot going on, and I grew weary, but none-the-less, I am here writing. I want to thank all of my continual readers. Even if I don't have many, the ones I do have matter to me so much. Thank you for waiting on me consistently, whether patient or impatiently, you have stuck by me. Enjoy this chapter.**

* * *

Sakura couldn't believe the amount of attention she wasn't getting._** 'Getting dressed like this and still getting no attention?! What the hell?!'**_ Inner Sakura yelled in frustration. Sakura just rolled her eyes. Hinata and Ino always did better at these things, it seemed. Not to say Sakura wasn't curvy, she knew she was, she also knew many women that would kill to have a body like hers... But, damn it all if she wouldn't kill to look like Ino-pig and Hinata. _'They're both beautiful, and I'm just... well... me.'_

Sakura sighed. Her time was almost up, she would have to meet Sasuke back up with no information.

"'Scuse me, Miss. May I buy you a drink?"

Bingo. Looks like someone didn't mind pink hair after all.

Sakura turned around and batted her fake eye-lashes, making sure to study the man's face. He was a shorter man, but taller than her. He had light-brown hair and tan skin sort of like Naruto's.

"I'd like that," Sakura responded, faking a flirty smile.

He sat down in a stool next to her at the bar, ordering them both glasses of sake, turning toward her.

"My name is Gurosu Uwaki. What about you, beautiful lady?" Uwaki asked as the bartender placed the drinks in front of them.

"My name is Heiya," she lied, carefully watching her drink to be sure he wouldn't spike it before she pretended to down the whole thing.

"Don't mean to be rude, Miss, but you're very beautiful," he said as he slowly looked her up and down, taking especially long on her legs. It took everything within Sakura not to kill this man on the spot. Naruto owed her big time...

But instead of kicking and screaming like she wanted to, Sakura settled on a giggle and a twirl of her hair.

"You from here, Miss?" he inquired.

"No. I'm just traveling through. My uncle sent me to find a place about three miles outside of here, I'm just staying the night in the village." Sakura responded, careful to watch the man's body language when she mentioned the hideout. "I was hoping to find someone who knew the name of the person who lives there, I never could remember what it was," she said with a pouty face.

Uwaki suddenly sat frozen, his body trembling, eyes focused on his drink. "I don't know what kinda business your uncle does, Miss, but..." Uwaki looked to Sakura then, fear clouding his eyes. "...but whatever it is ain't safe. It's real dangerous."

* * *

Sasuke slowly stepped inside the library of the hotel just as another man (or woman, he couldn't tell with the cloak covering their head) was stepping out. He was surprised to find that the hotel even had a library. This wasn't a common thing, but he was thankful for it.

Sasuke started to search quickly then, knowing that there was no time to waste. He didn't know of anything he could do without Sakura's information, but he could at least try. There was no way he would do nothing while Sakura risked her life for Naruto.

There was an older man sitting in a desk at the front of the library, nose deep into a book that Sasuke had seen his mother reading many times. "Do you have any books on shinobi and shinobi clans? Perhaps rogue ninja as well?"

The old man shifted his glasses and pointed to the very back of the library as he smiled. "Right there in the back. Any and every book about ninja are in this library."

Sasuke walked toward the book-shelf, noticing the cobwebs and dust covering the books. He never expected them to be of any use here of course, the only people who would be using them would be ninja, and even then, this town wasn't passed through by them often.

"Sakura," Sasuke whispered into his radio. "Do we have any information yet?"

After a couple moments of silence, Sasuke began to look for books while he waited. He knew he wouldn't necessarily find anything to help him know who lived there in the hideout, but he figured he could look up fighting techniques and things that would possibly help him.

Sasuke ran a finger along the spine of a book entitled _Basic Shinobi Battle Tactics _and took it off of the shelf and sat at a table. As he say down, he noticed there were fingerprints on the cover like someone had recently read the book. Maybe the man that passed him was also a shinobi.

"_I'm on my way back now," _he heard through his radio. "_Be in the room in ten minutes."_

Sasuke knew he didn't have to respond for Sakura to know he heard her, instead he opted for reading as much of the book as he could before he was to return to the room. Eventually becoming annoyed with the author for his unintelligible tips, Sasuke got up, placing the book where he'd taken it from, when a crumpled up note fell from the pages. After picking up the paper, Sasuke read:

_If you're looking for something lost _

_and don't know where it's found_

_you've looked all over earth_

_try looking underground._

What could this even mean? He had no idea, but he had no time to figure it out. He grabbed the note and the book before slamming some money on the counter and running out of the door. Sasuke spent at least fifteen minutes running around the hotel to find the man, and even asked the flirty clerk if she'd seen him, but he was nowhere to be found.

Sasuke stopped in a hallway to catch his breath and think. Whoever this person was clearly knew who Sasuke was. Not only that, they knew exactly where he was and what he was doing. This must be tracker ninja. But who could they be working for, and why did they have Naruto? That was what he needed to know. They obviously wanted to be found.

He knew Sakura would be pissed when he walked into the room, but he didn't care. He needed to show her the note left by their "little friend" to see if she could depict it.

* * *

Sakura was pacing the room when Sasuke walked in and closed the door.

"Sasuke, where have you been?! We don't have ti—"

"Read this." Sasuke shoved the paper in Sakura's hand and sat on the bed with the book, opening and shaking it to see if anything would fall out, but nothing did.

He looked to Sakura then, who held the paper in both hands and at him with wide-eyes. "Sasuke... I—"

"There was a man who walked out just before I walked in. I think he wrote that," Sasuke started.

"Sasu—"

"I tried to find him but he's suddenly nowhere in the hotel,"

"Sa—"

"We need to find him and see what he meant, and where—"

"Sasuke, damn it! Sit down and listen to me!" Sakura yelled as she grabbed his arm, he tensed then, standing still, feeling the electricity of her skin on his. Only then did he notice he had been pacing. Sasuke looked at Sakura then, and when she let go he could still feel where her hand had touched him like it was some form of after shock. He was facing her now, only inches away from her fearful eyes. He remembered this same feeling overwhelming him the first time his curse mark consumed him, her arms wrapped around him as he went crazy, just to save her. And even though the mark was consuming his body in pain, he felt her electric touch for days.

"Listen... I talked to a man who knows about the hideout, and..." Sakura sighed and closed her eyes as Sasuke gave her a questioning look.

"_I was hoping to find someone who knew the name of the person who lives there, I never could remember what it was."_

"_I don't know what kinda business your uncle does, Miss, but... but whatever it is ain't safe. It's real dangerous."_

She opened her eyes then and looked Sasuke in the face. Sakura was terrified to tell him, every bone in her body screamed from terror as her stomach churned, but she wasn't the little girl who gave into these things anymore. She was a strong shinobi, and a shinobi never lets their feelings interfere with their mission. Although, she was staring into the eyes of the most dangerous man she knew, knowing he could easily kill her if she let him. Not to mention he was also the man she just so happened to be in love—err, used to be in love with. Damn. How could she tell him this?

She cleared her throat. "Sasuke, whoever has Naruto is..."

"Sakura. Spit it out already." Sasuke impatiently grunted at her.

"They're in Itachi's old hideout."

Every bone in Sasuke's body froze. He stood still for a moment, thoughts of his older brother racing through his mind. His brother who had once admired more than anyone, that same precious life that he took.

The atmosphere in the room was heavy, the air was thick. It remained silent like this for awhile, both shinobi standing, looking at the ground. Sakura knew Sasuke needed a minute to recompose, because no matter what anyone said of him, nobody can just murder their own family and be okay. It had to hurt. But Sasuke didn't like pity, she knew, so she sat there patiently waiting for him to speak next, or for the right time for her to speak, so she could give him the momentary space he needed.

After a few more moments, it was Sasuke who finally spoke up. Not much to her surprise, he was angry. Very, very angry. "What does this have to do with the letter?"

"Maybe Itachi is trying to tell you something," Sakura suggested.

"Itachi is dead, you fool," Sasuke spoke hotly as he started pacing the room.

"But if someone is using a jutsu, he could have been brought back!" Sakura exclaimed, ignoring Sasuke's insults like she always had. He stood with his back to her, face halfway turned in her direction as a sign he was listening. She continued, "I mean, it makes sense. Think about it..." She fumbled her hands around in the blanket until she found the small paper.

"_'If you're looking for something lost and don't know where it's found,'_ This could be about Naruto, but I don't think so. I think the person is speaking of themselves because of this next line: _'You've looked all over earth,'_. They obviously know that we're aware of Naruto's whereabouts, but we still have yet to find out who has him. Unless, '_try looking underground,'_ is Itachi saying that it's him. Underground symbolizing his death," Sakura explained aloud, piecing apart the puzzle for him. "It's Itachi telling us he has Naruto, Sasuke..."

This was why he wanted Sakura to read the note; he knew she could do this. Sasuke had never met anyone who could look at something like that and know exactly what it meant five minutes later. And yet, he was not at all satisfied with her answer.

"None of this would have happened if you would have just stayed away from me..." He breathed.

Sakura's eyes widened with shock, her eyebrows bending with confusion. "Na—nani?"

"You heard me. If you would mind your own damn business, I wouldn't be here right now."

"So you're saying it's my fault Itachi has Naruto?!"

"STOP SAYING HIS NAME!" Sasuke yelled as he turned around and yanked Sakura by the arm, squeezing the life out of it. "I wouldn't have to deal with this bullshit if you had left me alone," he bit out at her as they both stared angrily into each other's eyes. "I'm leaving."

Sasuke turned to walk out when Sakura grabbed him by the back of the shirt. "You can be pissed at me all you want. I don't care if you never talk to me again after this, but this isn't about me, it's about Naruto. Maybe Itachi saved him or he's saving you, I don't know," Sakura began pointedly. "All I know is that you can't walk away now. Your problems will never get solved if all you ever do is walk away. The Sasuke I know, whether I know him well or not, would never walk away from Naruto when he needed him most."

They stood there silently for a few moments, Sasuke having to remind himself not to kill Sakura, he was a better person now...or at least he was trying to be.

But, damn, did this woman make it hard.

"Fine. But we're leaving NOW. Hurry up. I'm not waiting on you," Sasuke said as Sakura ran to the bathroom to change, Sasuke getting their packs together. He was usually one for orginazation, but right now he didn't care. It seemed as though Sakura didn't either as she shoved a number of items into her own bag and zipped it shut. Sasuke looked at Sakura, making sure she had put on her cloak as to not be recognized and opened the door.

"Well, long time no see, Sasuke."

…

_'Damn it!'_

…

"Kakashi."

* * *

**A/N: That's it for chapter nine. I hope I still have some readers out there. I'm incredibly sorry for the wait. Life got kind of crazy and depressing and I just haven't had time. Thank you for reading. Please review... It would make my day!**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: I feel like not many of you like this story. I know it doesn't match up with canon facts, but for this I decided to kinda let my mind do its own thing. The next story I write will be better. Promise. **

**I would really like to start receiving prompts from all of my readers! My tumblr username is uchihacherryblossom. Only sasusaku fanfics, (they're my only OTP), but it can be whatever you want. I'd love to expand my writing horizon.**

**Chapter 10. Enjoy!**

* * *

"Kakashi."

_**'DAMN IT. I KNEW this would happen!'**_ Sakura sighed. '_Just when we were finally getting somewhere_.'

The two younger shinobi stood in the doorway, Sasuke in front of Sakura, shocked. Although Sasuke knew how to hide it, face stoic. Kakashi stood in the hallway, leaning up against the bare wall, his showing eye looking as bored as ever. The air was thick and stale, making it hard for Sakura to breathe. She needed to think of something, fast. She knew that's what Sasuke was probably already doing.

"Sasuke... Sakura, I must say I'm disappointed," the copy-nin drawled lazily. "You didn't try to disguise anything much at all."

"I have no reason for hiding anything," Sasuke heard from behind him. He noticed her fist grabbing onto the back of his shirt. She was obviously surprised by Kakashi.

"You're going against mission's orders," Kakashi spoke authoritatively.

"'Those who disobey the rules are regarded as scum, but those who abandon their friends are worse than scum,'" Sakura used Kakashi's words against him.

There was a moment of silence. Kakashi thinking of what to say, Sakura brooding in anger, fisting and unfisting the back of Sasuke's over-sized shirt, and Sasuke silently planning how to get Kakashi out of their way...and Sakura off of his shirt.

"Tch." Sasuke finally broke the silence. "This is ridiculous. Let us go."

"I'm afraid I can't let either of you go. Now I must report to the hokage that I've seen you, Sasuke."

Sasuke felt himself being ripped back and thrown into the room. '_What the hell?!_' His reflexes should have been a lot better than that...he let his guard down. So this was her plan the whole time? To trap Sasuke and help get him back to Konoha. Now he was mad. Naruto wasn't even really missing, was he?

"You're defending him?"

'_W-what?' _Sasuke was shocked. That's not what he expected at all. When he looked up, he saw Sakura standing in front of him in the doorway, her body guarding him from Kakashi. "You can't do that to him! He's only trying to help!" _'What is she...'_

"He means no harm. Let him go this once. Take me, that's fine. But don't you think if he wanted to come back he would have by now, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura said, taking a step closer to Sasuke as the copy-cat ninja stepped toward her.

What? She was defending him? She really hadn't grown out of that little girl crush she had on him, had she?

Wait a minute...

Sasuke smirked as it clicked to him what she was doing.

She wasn't defending him... This had nothing to do with him.

Sakura was stalling. She was giving him time to come up with a plan, and he knew exactly what it was as he felt their ankles press together when she backed up, guarding him from Kakashi.

He just needed an opening. C'mon, Sakura... Distract him.

Kakashi looked into Sakura's eyes as he stepped closer to her. "You really have grown, haven't you, Sakura?" He said as he smiled, his one uncovered eye crinkling shut. '_NOW._'

Sasuke made several hands faster than anyone could see, and a second later, they were outside of the hotel. Sakura put her mask on and her hair up, covering herself with the hood of her cloak as Sasuke stood, and they ran away into the night.

. . .

"Good thinking back there," Sasuke complimented as they ran. Although she was shocked, Sakura only nodded. This was no time to think about the butterflies Sasuke's comment gave her.

Sakura's adrenaline was pumping. She could feel every ounce of it coursing through her veins as they ran. Away from Kakashi, away from the hotel, away from the town... toward Naruto. They were so close.

They would save him.

He would be okay.

"Sakura. Pay attention," she heard Sasuke boom from her right. He had stopped.

Right. He still didn't know where they were going. "It's this way, Sas—"

"We need to hurry before Kakashi catches us. He's going to have his team come to catch me and take me back to Konoha. Don't get in my way while we're there. Get Naruto and get out," he said to Sakura stoically.

Sakura nodded and started to run again, Sasuke following her. She knew that's what needed to happen, but to be honest, she didn't want it to...at all. She didn't want to leave Sasuke, not knowing when she'd see him again. And she didn't want to go back to Konoha, not yet. She wasn't strong enough yet.

But, maybe doing this for Naruto was what made her strong enough to come back home. Maybe, if she kept him alive and brought him home safe she'd be strong. Maybe, if she left Sasuke... Maybe, then, she'd be strong enough.

They ran for what felt like forever and yet no time at all when Sakura finally stopped. "We're here," she whispered to Sasuke as they walked to the entrance of the hideout. Trees covered the expansion of their surroundings, the hideout underground, as per usual. It was dark outside, and the air was humid from the rain that had stopped not too long before they left the hotel. The ground was littered with puddles here and there, making mud cover almost all of Sakura and Saskuke's legs, their pants wet with dirty water and blades of grass.

"Be watching for traps," Sasuke informed. "I don't want to be wasting my time saving you from all of them, so be careful." He took a step forward.

"If I were you, I wouldn't move," Sakura spoke up.

Sasuke looked down in front of him to see a fake patch of grass right under where his foot would have landed. This must have been a bomb. He reached down to pick up the patch of grass, but thought better of it as he saw a very thin string attached to it. Of course, whoever had set the traps to this place was advanced. And this was the ninja world: see underneath the underneath. This was a trap for the simple-minded shinobi.

If he and Sakura weren't careful, they could easily be caught in these traps. They needed to stay as focused as possible.

"Sasuke, come on. Pay attention."

Sasuke looked ahead of himself and growled as he saw Sakura almost to the entrance. This woman was infuriating. WHY had he decided to come with her again? He couldn't remember.

"Sakura!" Sasuke half whispered and half yelled. "Didn't I tell you to be careful? Don't be stupid!"

"You're the one who almost fell for two traps in a row! Who's the stupid one now?!" She seethed. Sasuke was really starting to piss her off. Why was he so controlling? It was maddening. "Hurry up. You're wasting time!"

Sasuke grunted and rolled his eyes as he stood straight once again, but bit his tongue. As annoying as Sakura was being, she was right. Standing here arguing with one another wasn't going to get Naruto to safety before Kakashi and his team came.

Once Sasuke caught up to Sakura they began their pursuit into the stoney cave. It was almost as if someone was inviting them in; there was no seal to keep them out, and so far, the trap in front of the hideout was the only one they'd run into.

The hideout was like most: dark, the occasional stick of fire for light against the stone walls and endless hallways that lead into other endless hallways with hundreds of different rooms. The air was hot and sticky, making it hard to breathe. Sasuke had taken a "fire-stick" off of the stone walls when they walked in so they could make their way through. Now they were running around, searching for any sign of chakra they could find.

"Sasuke, I was thinking," Sakura began. "What if by '_try looking underground_' they're talking about Naruto?" she whispered.

"What do you mean?" Sasuke inquired as they ran together, careful not to take his eyes off of the hideout just in case they eventually led into any traps.

"What if Naruto is dead?" he heard Sakura murmur.

"Naruto's not dead," Sasuke almost interrupted Sakura.

"I'm just saying, we need to think of all of the possibilities. We need to be prepared for any situation—"

Sasuke and Sakura suddenly both stopped in their tracks, eyes wide, they looked at one another.

"You felt that, too?" She asked rhetorically.

"Take a right ahead. Follow me," Sakura barely heard as Sasuke started running ahead, Sakura doing as she was told.

_'Naruto...'_

* * *

He paced the dark room slowly. He was anxious, the time had come and he would get exactly what he wanted...

The presence of two shinobi was noticeable as soon as they entered the hideout. They either weren't very skilled, or they didn't care to hide their chakra...they wanted to make their presence known. He figured it was the latter of the two as he felt the strong amounts of chakra that was emitting from them.

They would be here in no time, all he had to do now was wait.

"I'm thirsty," he heard from his right side, the chains from the wall seemed as though they were being yanked once again from the sound of it.

"Soon you will be satisfied," the man's deep voice rumbled.

His ears stung with excitement as he could begin to hear foot steps drawing nearer and nearer to the room. They had found them.

The erratic clanking sound of running feet stopped suddenly in front of the door, no time later said wooden door was flung open, revealing Naruto's two comrades. Sakura took no time at all in rushing to Naruto's aid, using her strength to break the chains off of him. She set him against the wall and began to examine him with her chakra, noticing he was very dehydrated. "Here, take this," she whispered as she handed him her canteen. His weakened muscles could barely life the canteen to his mouth, but he finally got it.

"You..."

Sakura froze as she heard Sasuke's voice break. She was so focused on Naruto that she'd forgotten about looking at the person standing behind her. The one who had caused her all this pain, who had caused Naruto all this pain...

"Sasuke-kun," Orochimaru licked his lips as he smiled mischievously. "I see you've finally found me."

"Sakura, get Naruto out of here." Sasuke growled angry. "I'll take on Orochimaru."

Sakura grabbed Naruto, trying to pick him up as she heard a sinister laugh. "I'm afraid I can't let that happen, Sasuke-kun. You see, it's not really Naruto that I'm after..."

"Sasuke! It's you he wants!" Naruto yelled as Sakura was helping him to stand. "He kept forcing me to tell him about you!" He leaned against the stone wall behind him, his muscles too weak from not being used. "I wouldn't tell him anything..." _'I just wanted you to be safe.'_

The raven-haired shinobi stared at his best friend and rival in awe. This whole time, he had been imprisoned here knowing he would lose his life eventually, and still protected Sasuke.

"Why, Naruto?" Sasuke questioned angrily.

"I..."

* * *

_Naruto struggled to breathe as several of his ribs had been cracked and broken. His mouth tasted of iron, blood pooling at the corners. And yet, he would still keep silent._

"_I won't say... anything about... Sasuke," the jinchuriki weezed. "You might as well.. kill me."_

_Orochimaru snickered. "I think we're done for today. Kabuto, heal him. Let's try again tomorrow."_

* * *

"I just wanted to keep you safe," Naruto whispered as he looked back at the rogue ninja, his long lost best friend, his brother.

"If this is the case, what does that stupid poem you left us mean anyway?" Sakura spoke up, trying to connect the dots. "Try looking underground?"

The snake ninja chucked to himself for a moment before turning to look at the pink-haired kunoichi. "Why don't you ask Sasuke-kun here? He's the one who brought me back to life to use my power."

Sakura and Naruto's eyes widened with shock. "Sa—Sasuke?" Sakura gulped. "Is this true?"

No. This couldn't be true. The Sasuke she knew was changed for the better and would never do this. He'd said he killed Orochimaru and had left it at that, he'd achieved his goals. Sasuke was powerful enough, he didn't need this bastard. It was all a trick... It had to be.

Sasuke looked to the ground, his bangs hiding his face. "It's true."

"SASUKE, YOU BASTARD!" Naruto screamed at him. "How could you?!"

"Stop it, Naruto!" Sakura reprimanded him as she took her arms off of him and seated him against the cold stone wall behind them. "You don't want to strain yourself."

Naruto just ignored her, as she figured he would. He had every right to be angry, hell, she was angry. But more than anything she felt betrayed, lied to.

Sakura had trusted Sasuke, befriended him, even. She had told him private things about her, she had shared sleepless nights with him. She had entrusted him to help her find Naruto, only to realize he had been the traitor everyone said he was this whole time. Nothing more.

Sasuke stared at the ground, Naruto and Sakura staring at him, the room quite except for the occasional growl from Naruto.

"He doesn't care about you, Naruto." Sasuke's shocked face snapped up at the sound of the voice that betrayed him. "He doesn't care about me, either. All he wants is power." Sakura stood clenching and unclenching her fists as she looked at Orochimaru.

"'_Try looking underground,_'" she seethed to him. "You weren't talking about Naruto or even Sasuke for that matter. You were referencing him bringing you from the dead for your power. You _wanted _him to know it was you." She turned to Sasuke then, pointing a finger at him.

"You knew it was him all along, didn't you? That's why you went looking for him. You wanted to find him before there was any chance of him telling us what was really going on. So you let me believe it was Itachi." Sakura didn't notice that she had been walking and yelling until her pointer finger touched Sasuke's chest. "You knew all along," she spit out, poking his chest with every syllable.

"Well, well, well, don't we have a smart little girl here," Orochimaru licked his lips. "You're right about the first half, however I'm afraid Sasuke-kun knew nothing of my presence here."

Sasuke looked angrily at Sakura as he grabbed her wrist, flinging her hand away from him. "Get Naruto, and get out," the Uchiha growled at her.

Suddenly, Orochimaru was behind Sakura. "I'm sorry, Sasuke-kun, but I'm afraid I still can't let that happen."

Sakura was on the other side of the stoney room before she knew it. "Shit!" She cursed as her back hit the paved floor.

"Sakura-chan!" She heard Naruto protest as she grabbed her head and squeezed her eyes shut. Damn, that hurt. "Stay put, Naruto. I'm fine."

"If it's me you want, let them leave. You have me here now," Sakura heard Sasuke's voice booming from across the dark quarters.

The air was sticky and humid, it was heavy with anticipation. The room itself was dark and cold, barely lit just like all the others, though much larger and in a perfect circle shape.

Sakura opened her eyes then and looked at Naruto, his crumbled form lay against the wall. She could tell he was doing all he could not to pass out right there. She had to get him out of here before too long or he wouldn't make it.

She turned her face to Sasuke's angry form then, his body tenser than she'd ever seen him, ready to pounce at any moment. His sharingan was blazing, and had she been able to see well enough, she would have noticed the hairs on the back of his neck standing.

He really hadn't planned this.

"You see, Sasuke-kun, it's not really you that I want," Orochimaru sneered. "Of course, if you were to offer yourself, I wouldn't deny you." His voice sounded disgusting, almost like he was trying to seduce Sasuke.

Sasuke growled. "Just say it already! If not me, what do you want?!"

It started off as a low chuckle, and suddenly grew louder and louder until it was a full on evil cackle emitting from the snake sanin.

"I want the girl."

* * *

**A/N: As always, I'm sorry it took so long. Life hasn't been too good for me lately and so I've needed a break from really everything, to be honest. But I think I'm finally ready to start writing faithfully again. Please review, it would mean a lot to me. Thank you so much! I love you all!**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: I want to give a special thanks to those of you who have reviewed. Especially, though, to my readers _NaruNozoFiles_ and _Sasusakulover_. Each and every review has been very very helpful in motivating me and making me feel better as the author of this story. _NaruNozoFiles_ and _Sasusakulover_, thank you for writing a descriptive review and telling me how you feel about the story. What you all leave here affects me more than you think, and I can't thank you enough.**

**This chapter has been very, very fun to write! I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.**

**Disclaimer: You already know the only thing I own here is the plot to this story.**

* * *

"I want the girl."

Sakura's face dropped from behind her mask, her entire body frozen. It seemed to her like Naruto and Sasuke had the same response. Sakura was dumbfounded, confused. _'Why me...?'_

What could Orochimaru possibly want with Sakura..? Wait!

"Wait a minute! How could you have possible known I was with Sasuke?!" Sakura shouted from behind Orochimaru, rising to her feet.

"Karin..." Sasuke mumbled under his breath, his whole body tense now. When he found her again, he would kill her for doing this. She would regret ever being born once he got his hands on her...

"Ah, I see you're still as smart as ever, Sasuke-kun," Orochimaru drawled, smiling evilly after.

"Hey! What the hell is going on here, you snake bastard?!" Naruto shouted angrily while shaking his fist in the air, his slumped form against the wall, his eyes bore angrily into Orochimaru.

"And you!" Sakura looked to see Naruto's finger pointed in her direction. "You have some explaining to do, too! Why were you with Sasuke! Why does Orochimaru want you anyhow?! You were working for them, huh?! Is that it?! That's the real reason you left Konoha!"

"Shut up, baka!" Sakura yelled, eyes piercing through Naruto's skull. "None of that is true! You really think I'd do a thing like that? I have no idea why the hell he wants me so chill out!" Sakura yelled, fuming. _**'Stupid Naruto and his stupid childish assumptions,' **_Inner Sakura huffed, folding her arms.

"Karin found where I was staying when I left the hideout. She must have tracked where I was going," Sasuke spoke loud enough to be heard throughout the large, circular room.

"You see Sasuke-kun," The snake sanin started, his eyes still focused on the Uchiha in front of him. "Karin wasn't happy at your sudden decision to leave. Of course, neither was I. I gave her a mission to find where you were, using Naruto as bait to lure you my way, knowing you wouldn't be able to resist, but then..." Orochimaru chuckled for a moment before continuing.

"Then I heard you were with this kunoichi here. It seemed odd to me, Sasuke-kun," He began to slowly walk closer to Sasuke then. "She had once been annoying to you, a hindrance, but you were suddenly around her very often. Then it clicked with me! You only ever associate yourself with people who can help make you more powerful, so I of course had to research this wonderful young woman." The last few words coming out of his mouth were breathy, almost seductive. It made Sakura sick. The way he talked about her, about Sasuke... Maybe Sasuke used to be that way, but he wasn't anymore. Part of Sakura, no matter how small, knew that Sasuke cared for her, even if only a little.

"Get to the point!" Naruto yelled impatiently. "What do you want Sakura-chan for anyhow?!"

"Ah ah, don't get impatient now. I've only just begun." The room grew silent enough to hear a pen drop, every eye was fixed on the dark soul that stood in the middle of the room, though he was closer to Sasuke.

Everyone jolted when at the sound of the opening of a door, Sasuke's tense form snapping in the direction of the noise, ready to attack.

"Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto smirked as he entered the quarters, shutting the large door behind him. "Sorry I'm late."

"Ah, Kabuto, you're just in time it seems."

As Kabuto made his way toward Orochimaru, Sakura began listing all the ways to get out of the hideout that seemed logical. But... none of them worked. It was almost useless, Sakura knew that she would never be able to take on Kabuto and Orochimaru all while getting Naruto to safety, but if she didn't hurry and think of something, it would be too late. Naruto's body was tired, he needed immediate medical attention. _'Think, think, think...'_

Kabuto stopped next to Orochimaru, facing toward Naruto, team seven making a triangle around them. Sasuke in front, Naruto on the right and Sakura behind. "It seems as though there are others on the way," Kabuto pushed at his glasses. "There may be no time for explanations right now."

_**'Damn it, Sakura! Think! Come on!'**_ Inner Sakura yelled, grabbing at her head. There had to be something that she could do. Something, anything!

"We have more visitors? Hm. This was not planned, though I'm not surprised. It's Tsunade we're dealing with, after all." Orochimaru chuckled. "I suppose you're right. As you wish, then. Take care of them."

"With pleasure, my lord." Kabuto smirked, looking up eye-to-eye with Naruto. He withdrew a kunai from his pouch and began to run at him full speed.

Naruto tried to stand, but it was effortless. He tried to crawl, but he didn't have enough strength. Kabuto was inching up on him, getting closer and closer, until suddenly Naruto couldn't see him anymore.

Sakura was in front of Naruto before Kabuto could react, grabbing him by the wrist and throwing him like a rag-doll. He cried out as his back made contact with the stone wall that crumbled behind him. His body lay there under the rocks, still and unconscious.

Sasuke was shocked. He hadn't expected Sakura to be so fast, and on top of that, her strength... She made a stone wall crumble just by brute force. Sakura's strength was nothing to take lightly. Orochimaru would have to focus on distancing himself in combat if he wanted to survive.

"Touch him and I'll kill you," Naruto heard Sakura growl from above him before his body finally gave in and he passed out.

The evil cackling began to rumble from Orochimaru's chest. "I may not have to, his health looks like it may get the best of him first."

Sakura spun around to Naruto's unconscious body. "Kage bunshin no jutsu!" She turned back toward Orochimaru then, but spoke in regards to her clone. "Take Naruto and get him to the Konoha hospital as soon as possible. Kakashi and his team should be here soon, have one of them take him if you meet."

"Hai!" Sakura's clone turned around, grabbing Naruto's weakened form and throwing him over her shoulder, running out of the opening that the now crumbled wall had left.

Sakura closed her eyes then, saying a silent prayer. _'Naruto... Please be safe.'_

"Sakura what are you doing?! I told you to get out of here!" Sasuke fumed in Sakura's direction.

"Once Kabuto wakes up you'll be out-numbered," Sakura pointed out, taking off her mask and cloak and dropping them to the floor next to her, stray strands of her messy pink locks coming loose. A smirk rose to her face then. "And did you really think I'd let you take all the fun?"

**'_Shannaro! Let's do this! Hell yeah!' _**Inner Sakura rose to her feet in excitement. Now the fun would begin... Now Sakura would finally kill the people who had hurt her dear friend, she would show no mercy.

Sasuke couldn't help but smirk back at Sakura, at the excitement dancing in her eyes. She did have a point, he would be out-numbered, and could use the help. Leave it to Sakura to think ahead.

"It seems as though you aren't the only ones who came prepared to fight," Orochimaru's evil smile gradually rose to his face. This was questionable... Whatever he had planned Sakura and Sasuke needed to be prepared for. This in mind, Sakura ran to Sasuke then, putting her back to his.

They both crouched down to fight then, Sasuke throwing his comrade a questioning glance. "What are you doing?"

She looked back at him then, as though the answer were self-explanatory. Sakura opened her mouth to answer but had no time as five of Orochimaru's subordinates came crashing through the door.

"Hn." Sasuke let out a chuckle. "So you weren't just dying to touch me."

"No time for talking, Sasuke-kun," Sakura mock flirted with him, though the use of the all too familiar honorific brought a blush to both of their faces, shaking it off, she continued. "I have your back, you have mine."

Sasuke nodded silently to himself as he tried to rid himself of the redness on his cheeks and his ears, hoping Sakura hadn't seen and silently thanking himself that Naruto was gone, he'd never hear the end of that.

"You called, Orochimaru-sama?" A female subordinate questioned. She had short blonde hair and big purple eyes. She stood much taller than Sakura, and looked to be much more muscular than her. Though this didn't scare her in the least, Sakura knew she had an insurmountable amount of strength.

"I want the girl. If you can keep Sasuke-kun while you're at it, go ahead," He ordered them, waving his hand in the two shinobi's direction. "Kill them if you must." Orochimaru put his arms behind his back and calmly began walking toward the door. "I'll be back to clean up your mess soon."

The five subordinates walked toward Sasuke and Sakura, circling themselves around them, trapping them in.

"You won't be able to get out now," A male with a low voice beemed out through an evil smile. "You might as well give up."

"Ah, don't be so sure of yourselves."

Every head in the room snapped to the direction of the voice just in time to see Kakashi and Shikamaru entering the room through the opening in the wall.

"Where's Hinata?" Sakura asked, shocked and relieved to see that help had arrived.

"We found your clone not too far out from here," Kakashi spoke. Sakura nodded, she knew exactly what happened, there was no time for conversation anyway.

Sasuke growled. "Are you just going to stand there all day or come and help us?"

Kakashi chuckled to himself, Shikamaru clicking his tongue at Sasuke. "Impatient as always. Troublesome..."

Sakura looked around her, Sasuke seemingly doing the same, observing her surroundings. If she gave enough of a distraction, it would give Kakashi an opening to attack.

"Ah, ah, ah. I know what you're doing brat, there's no point in that," the blonde kunoichi said, reaching out and grabbing Sakura by the hair, pulling her toward herself.

_**'Shannaro! Now I'm mad!' **_Inner Sakura seethed. **_'Does she not know how long it took to grow hair like this!?'_**

_'Damn it...'_ Sakura couldn't leave Sasuke on his own like that. But, she thought better of it as all eyes were on her, her's on Kakashi who was unveiling his sharingan.

The copy-nin ran full speed toward the five ninja, cutting the throat of one who had stood directly in front of Sakura, putting his back to Sasuke's as the ninja's dead body dropped to the floor.

"Looks like it's an even match now," Kakashi spoke daringly.

"Not quite." The blonde kunoichi gasped as the Sakura she had by the hair disappeared into a cloud of dust, a log appearing in her place. Sakura came from behind the woman, grabbing both her arms and pinning them behind her, trapping her so she couldn't get loose.

Sakura chuckled to herself as she tugged on the woman's arms a little, causing a groan. "You're not the first one to try that, you know."

Every other soul in the room stood shocked. Sasuke's expression failing his usually calm demeanor. Nobody had expected that to happen.

"H-How did you know?!" The woman spoke out, her voice shaking along with her body.

"I've been watching you since you walked in here. Women like you like to be foolish, I knew your type the minute I saw you."

Sakura moved the subordinate's arms then, putting her foot between her shoulders. "You made it too obvious, eying me every second you could. Of course I had time to formulate a plan." Sakura grabbed the woman by her wrists.

"But since we're copying moves today," Sakura pulled the woman's arms as hard as she could, emitting an ear splitting scream from the woman and an even more shocked expression from those around her. She bent down then and slit her throat, ending her life in less than a second.

Sasuke stood frozen as he watched the blonde ninja's body fall lifelessly to the floor.

"_No! Stop! Don't do it!"_

Sasuke looked to Sakura then, who merely wiped the other woman's blood from her face and stood straight once more.

"_Stop! Please!"_

That day that the cursemark took over replayed in his head again and again, when Sakura had reached out to save him from himself. Her terrified and eyes and tear-soaked face forever ingrained themselves into his memory.

"It seems as though we have the upper-hand now, Kakashi-sensei," Sakura spoke out as she put her back against Sasuke and Kakashi's shoulders.

"Ah." Kakashi drawled lazily.

Sasuke closed his eyes, letting his head hang toward the ground.

"_You don't scare me, Uchiha. I'm not the Haruno Sakura you knew back then."_

"Hn." Sasuke chuckled as he smirked to himself, raising his head up then, all three of their bodies already in a battling stance. "You'll have to do better than that to impress me, you know."

Sakura scoffed to herself as a smirk met her own features as well. "I've only just begun."

* * *

**A/N: Okay! That concludes this chapter. PLEASE let me know what you think! This has been the most fun so far to write and I would love opinions! Thank you so much for reading. Until next time!**


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